Boat owner describes his terror as fire ravages home (From This Is Wiltshire)

Boat owner describes his terror as fire ravages home

9:30am Friday 27th November 2009

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A canal boat owner has described the terror of seeing his home engulfed in flames while believing his girlfriend was still on board.

Rod Heavens’ boat, the Eliza Louise, which was moored on the canal at Whaddon Lane in Hilperton, was left gutted by the fire on Saturday evening.

Mr Heavens had gone to pick up his 12-year-old son Jake, leaving girlfriend Abigail North asleep on the boat, but when he returned to the canal at about 6.45pm the boat was well alight.

Thinking Miss North was still on the boat, he smashed a window to try and get in, but it caused a backdraft and the boat exploded into flames.

Miss North had in fact got off the boat after being woken by her dogs and had already called the fire service, but Mr Heavens’ eight-year-old dog Moxy, a Bull Mastiff Pointer cross, died in the fire after being overcome by smoke.

Mr Heavens, 47, said: “I had only been gone 20 minutes and when I came back I saw a ball of flames from the canal area, but I didn’t realise it was our boat.

“I was running to help and as I got closer I realised it was our boat.

“I thought Abi was still on the boat so I smashed the window to try to get back in, but there was a blowback. I would have been too late anyway. I had resigned myself to the fact that she was gone and went back down to the bridge to meet the fire brigade.

“She was only on the other side of the boat – I just couldn’t see or hear her because of the smoke and flames. It took half an hour for me to find out she was still alive.”

Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service sent crews from Trowbridge and Bradford on Avon, supported by a control unit from Devizes, water rescue specialists from Trowbridge and Chippenham, a Land Rover pump from Westbury and a lighting unit from Salisbury. The cause of the fire is still unknown but there was no smoke alarm on board.

Mr Heavens was treated by paramedics at the scene for burns to his hands.

The three have lost everything they had in the fire, including passports, wallets, paperwork, clothes and all Jake’s artwork, and they did not have insurance.

The boat had passed a safety check just three months before.

But they are now staying on board a friend’s boat and are going to stay with Miss North’s parents once they have made the boat secure.

The fire service offers free boat safety checks, giving help on identifying potential problems and advising on what to do should a fire break out.

To request a check, call 0800 389 7849. Further information about boating fire safety can be found at www.boatsafetyscheme.com/fire – a national initiative to minimise the risk of fires on boats cruising the UK’s inland waterways.

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