David Morrissey praises firefighters as blaze ‘guts’ £4m house

 
Raging blaze: David Morrissey said firefighters acted “brilliantly” in dealing with the fire (Picture: Steve Meddle/ITV/REX)
Steve Meddle/ITV/REX
David Churchill23 June 2015
The Weekender

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Actor David Morrissey today told of the “terrifying” moment a fire ripped through his elderly neighbour’s home.

The blaze “gutted” the pensioner’s £4 million four-storey semi-detached townhouse in Highgate last night. The owner was named by neighbours as 89-year-old Anne Johnson.

More than 72 firefighters tackled the blaze for six hours after Morrissey and other neighbours raised the alarm. The owner escaped unhurt and a salvage operation was under way today at the property in Wood Lane.

Walking Dead star Morrissey, who played The Governor in the American zombie apocalypse horror drama, told the Standard: “It was quite a big fire and, worryingly, it spread quickly. It was raging.

Firefighters: Emergency services rushed to the scene (Picture: Nigel Howard)
NIGEL HOWARD

“But the firefighters handled it brilliantly. It’s times like that you see how brave they are and what a great job they do. They did a fantastic job.”

He added on Twitter: “Just seen the @LondonFire in action. Brave men and women that we owe so much to. Thank God for them.” It is believed the blaze started in the roof. Mrs Johnson was said to be being comforted by her son. Her neighbours also escaped unscathed.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Just seen the <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/LondonFire" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-21801-https://twitter.com/LondonFire" data-vars-event-id="c23">@LondonFire</a> in action. Brave men and woman that we owe so much to. Thank God for them.— David Morrissey (@davemorrissey64) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/davemorrissey64/status/613130429168791554" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-21801-https://twitter.com/davemorrissey64/status/613130429168791554" data-vars-event-id="c23">June 22, 2015</a>

Neighbour Arthur Wadsworth, 35, said: “I heard a sound when I was watching the telly and then I heard a lot of people shouting, then I heard a lot of breaking glass outside and knew it was something serious. You could just see it had torn through the roof and downstairs was the worst.”

Kasia Bate, 35, said: “It took a long time to put out. Even though they controlled it the roof just kept spitting out all this fire. It was very terrifying.”

Ten fire engines and 72 firefighters from eight stations attended and had the blaze controlled by 4.46am.

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