A cottage has ‘completely collapsed’ after a fire in east Suffolk this morning.

East Anglian Daily Times: Firefighters on the scene of a fire in Parham Picture: ANDREW HIRSTFirefighters on the scene of a fire in Parham Picture: ANDREW HIRST (Image: Archant)

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service received reports of a blaze in Parham, near Framlingham, at around 10.40am.

Crews from Framlingham, Aldeburgh and Saxmundham attended the fire, which involved a derelict cottage under refurbishment and two outbuildings.

A fire service spokesman said the cottage had “completely collapsed”.

Suffolk police had also been called in to manage traffic along Main Road, which is the B1116.

Speaking from the scene, station commander Phil Geeson praised his crews for working in difficult conditions.

“They’ve done fantastically well,” he said.

“The road is very narrow and so to get three appliances up here was very difficult.

“The site itself is quite tricky as it’s on quite a steep slope.

“Also, as a building site, there are other hazards related to that – not to mention the fire itself.”

Mr Geeson said the first crew arrived on the scene to find a fully developed fire involving a semi-derelict cottage.

“Their actions were to contain the fire with hose reels and other fire fighting equipment,” he added.

“They’ve worked really hard to contain the fire to the footprint of the building.”

The first crews quickly called for additional resources, with four appliances working to tackle the fire at the height of the incident.

Mr Geeson said the cottage was completed destroyed while a number of outbuildings on the site had also suffered slight fire damage.

The cottage, which is situated next to Parham village hall, had been derelict for some time but was in the midst of refurbishment work to bring it back into use.

The fire service said it was too early to identify a cause of the fire but it did not appear suspicious.

“We are speaking to the builder and site owner to try to identify the cause,” Mr Geeson added.

Crews were expected to remain on site until around 2pm, with a return visit planned for this evening to ensure the fire remains out.

Mr Geeson asked passers by to be aware that the fire was a live incident and to only contact the fire control room if there was a specific update to report.