THE vicar of Egloskerry Parish Church, The Rev Geoffrey Pengelly, has praised the ‘first-class’ response of Launceston Community Fire Station after a fire at the church on Thursday, September 14.

A crew from the fire station responded to a call at 7.20pm stating that smoke could be seen from the church.

On arrival, the crew called for more assistance from other surrounding fire stations and an officer. The crews extinguished the fire and found it to be caused by a faulty dehumidifier.

However, Rev Pengelly praised them for their swift response and ensuring that the damage was kept to a minimum.

Rev Pengelly said: “There was a small fire at the East end of the church. It looks like it was caused from a faulty dehumidifier.

“There’s some damage to the end of one of the pews while there’s also been some colour disfiguration to the walls and around that area.

“However, the fire brigade from Launceston did an excellent job in containing it as soon as possible. Bob Griggs had turned up for bellringing practice and rang them straight away and they were out in no time so we’re really thankful to them for that.”

Looking ahead, Rev Pengelly wasn’t entirely sure when the church would reopen but believes it’ll be a matter of weeks rather than months.

Rev Pengelly said: “Someone from the main church at Truro will come and assess the damage and see what needs to be done. A lot of it is just smoke damage so hopefully the insurance can cover that.

“We’ll also have to get an electrician in to check around the church but I wouldn’t expect it to be closed for more than a fortnight although we’ll know more when checks have been carried out.”

The last time the church caught alight was back in the 1920s, and Rev Pengelly reiterated his thanks to the fire service and the people of the village for their support.

Rev Pengelly said: “The fire brigade really were first-class. As a church we’re deeply appreciative of how quick and professional they were. It was also great to see the support of the local community. A lot of people were concerned, but thankfully it’s only slightly damaged and it can be put right.”

Launceston Communtiy Fire Station’s station manager, Andy Sleeman, said: “Thankfully the fire was fairly straightforward to deal with.

“The only difficulty with the church is that due to the size of the building and the lack of windows we couldn’t tell how big it was going to be. However, our first team assessed the fire and were able to put it out within ten minutes.”