Rooftop fire at Hockmore tower in Cowley

Firefighters attended the fire on the roof of Hockmore tower, off Pound Way in Cowley, at about 7.15pm yesterday (22).

Six fire appliances from Slade Park Fire Station, Rewley Road Fire Station, Abingdon Fire Station, Didcot Fire Station and Wheatley Fire Station were sent to the tower block as well as multiple specialist appliances and support vehicles.

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Dark smoke could be seen coming from the top of the building alarming passer-by’s who called Thames Valley Control Room.

Crews were faced with a “well-developed” fire involving garden furniture outside one of the two rooftop flats. There are 56 flats split over seven floors overall.

The fire was extinguished before it could spread further using jets leaving only a small area damaged. Thermal imaging cameras were used to check the surrounding areas for any first spread.  

Residents, who were previously evacuated from the building, were allowed back inside their homes at about 9.30pm and no-one was injured.

The investigation into the cause of this incident is still ongoing with Fire Investigation Officers from Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service as well as Thames Valley Police.

One resident said despite the fire, the residents inside were undisturbed for most of the evening.

Sarah Wright, who lives on the top floor, said: “I didn’t hear anything at all, there are sprinklers installed everywhere but they didn’t go off and neither did the fire alarms.

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“I wasn’t asked to leave the building but at about 9pm or 9.30pm a police officer came knocking on doors and she said there had been a fire but that everything was fine – there was no commotion up here at all.”

This is not the first incident involving a fire that has happened at the building. More than 40 firefighters tackled a blaze on the fifth floor of the building in 2015.

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Read more from this author

This story was written by Gee Harland, she joined the team in 2022 as a senior multimedia reporter.

Gee covers Wallingford and Didcot.

Get in touch with her by emailing: Gee.harland@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @Geeharland

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