House fire victim in Peterborough calls for 'missing' fire hydrant issue to be resolved

A Thorney resident who suffered a heart attack when his house burned down eight years ago says he still has flashbacks and sleepness nights worrying about another fire occurring.

And now his concerns have grown upon recently discovering a recurring issue with the fire hydrant close to his home.

Melvin Dolby and his wife Sue “lost everything” in the blaze at his home in The Causeway on the evening of 8 February 2016.

The fire, which began on a faulty car in his garage, melted a central heating oil tank which spread fuel across the patio to his home. The blaze was so severe that the A47 had to be closed until 7am the next morning.

Mr Dolby, 75, claims Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service (CFRS) was hampered on the night by not being able to swiftly locate the fire hydrant opposite his house.

However, while the fire service says it experienced a “challenge locating a water supply”, it was also faced with “a difficult and unique set of circumstances” on the night – including the presence of ‘Storm Imogen’.

Fire hydrants are marked with yellow concrete ‘H’ signs on the roadside - indicating the distance that the water supply can be found.

“The fire hydrant is meant to be across the road from my house," Mr Dolby explained, “but it was hiddenbecause 10 years before the fire there was a car accident there and the sign was broken.”

"Seven fire engines came to my house that night,” he added. “They tried to find the fire hydrant but couldn’t for quite some time.So they had to collect more from the drains.”

CFRS confirmed it experienced a delay in finding the fire hydrant before it was later located and utilised – but did not specify when. We asked the fire service to confirm if it was used on the night of the fire, but did had not received a response at the time of publication.

Mr Dolby says he believes that, had the fire service been able to locate the fire hydrant earlier, the fire would not have been so severe.

"We lost everything,” he said. “There was nothing left except the clothes we were standing in.”

This included the couple’s classic cars used in their wedding car business and sentimental items including family photos.

Mr Dolby, a builder by trade, said the traumatic incident caused him to have a heart attack – being taken to hospital at around 9pm that night.

He later found out he and Sue were not going to get an insurance pay-out on the house.

“It cost me thousands of pounds out of my own pocket to rebuild our house,” he said.

"For eight years my wife and I have rarely had a good night’s sleep because of the trauma of the fire and flashbacks. I had a heart attack because of the stress of it all. I still have heart problems now.”

Subsequent thefts from his property in the months following the fire compounded the couple’s ‘trauma’, with items including a touring caravan and a ride-on lawnmower being stolen. Mr Dolby says neither were ever recovered.

“I feel like we were left down by the services when we needed them most,” he said. “I pay £3500 a year in council tax, which is a lot for a pensioner – but I don’t feel I’m getting anything for it.”

Mr Dolby says engineers came out to locate the hydrant and replace the sign after the fire. But recently he spotted the sign has been damaged again and is now laying on the grass verge and not in its original position.

"This needs to be fixed once and for all, before something else happens and it’s needed again,” he concluded.

Cambridge Fire and Rescue Service is responsible for maintaining fire hydrants. A spokesperson told us: “We have a small team of engineers that carry out routine inspections of more than 20,000 hydrants around the county on a five-year cycle. The team will also respond when informed of a damaged hydrant. Having checked our records, the hydrant your contact is referring to was last inspected in 2022, and prior to that 2016. We have not been alerted to the damage prior to you getting in touch, but can certainly go and check it out now that we know.

Regarding the house fire, they said: “Sadly, this fire involved a difficult and unique set of circumstances that led to significant damage to a house, garage and several classic cars.

“The initial call to our Control came in at 6.06pm. The first crews arrived at 6.17 and 6.18pm, who quickly called for further support. The next crews arrived at 6.30pm and 6.31pm, meaning within half an hour there were four fire engines in attendance. Further crews arrived at 6.44pm, 6.47pm, 6.51pm and 6.52pm. More than 60 firefighters in total attended the incident.

“The crews faced significant challenges at this incident. Storm Imogen brought strong winds that helped spread the fire. There was also a leaking fuel tank and cylinders that presented substantial risks. There was also a challenge securing a water supply, as the hydrant had been hidden following some work on the highway, but this was found and utilised.

“To give you some idea what the initial crews faced when they arrived, the leaking fuel ignited and created an intense and rapidly developing fire within four minutes of the first crews attending. Due to the fuel and the strong winds, the fire spread rapidly from the garage to the house.”

They added “The crews worked hard over several hours to try and contain the fire to prevent further spread and extinguish it, however the combination of circumstances meant there was significant damage caused to the property.”