A DERELICT care home was engulfed in flames last night as around 30 firefighters worked throughout the early hours of this morning to keep the blaze at bay.

Today an investigation will take place to establish how the fire at the former Selena House Care Home in Oxford Road, Stratton, started.

Police taped off the surrounding area while fire crews, including from Stratton and Westlea, tackled the blaze, from 10.15pm to 3.30am. 

Smoke could be seen billowing nearby, including in Covingham and close to the A419.

There were also reports residents living around the area, which is near Greenbridge, were evacuated.

The care home has been empty since 2012, however it is not yet known whether anyone was inside at the time or if the blaze is being treated as suspicious. 

Dave Geddes, station manager, told the Adver: “It was challenging because of the nature of the building with it being derelict and the roof falling in.

“It was too dangerous to send any of the firefighters inside so we had to fight it from the outside and it was challenging to get to some areas of the buildings.

“We were called about 10.15pm by a member of the public who was walking past and saw it.

“We had one of three interconnecting buildings which was well alight and we had flames coming from the roof which started spreading to a second building but we managed to contain the third building.

“Two of the buildings have got significant interior and roof damage but the walls are still standing.

“We are unable to tell how it started at the moment because of the amount of damage and there was no one inside to the best of our knowledge.

“We left at 3.30am and we had about 30 firefighters, six pumps and two aerial appliances, one from Avon.

“Initially there was a large amount of youths and bystanders that we had to keep back.”  

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire & Rescue also called in help from Avon Fire & Rescue Service.

Residents in the area have spoken of their shock at seeing the severity of the fire.

Darcy Brown, who was with her friends at the time, said: "We were really scared.

"First of all I saw the flames from Greenbridge so I ran over to see what it was about and when I got there the whole building was in flames.

"I stood there for a minute and heard the roof fall through."

Another person added: "I was terrified. I'd never seen anything like it in my life. I sprinted all the way wondering what was going on - I was shocked."

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