SIXTY firefighters who tackled a blaze at a farmhouse in Exbourne on Saturday afternoon managed to save 60 per cent of the thatched roof.
Eight fire appliances attended the scene at around 5pm and crews used ten sets of breathing apparatus to fight the fire which had started in the chimney.
Incident commander Ian Donovan from Okehampton Fire Station said fires in thatched roofs were notoriously difficult to tackle but on this occasion the damage was kept to a minimum.
'When we got to the farmhouse about 20 per cent of the roof was on fire and the owner had been trying to deal with the situation with a garden hose,' he said.
'We quickly got to work in the roof space using breathing apparatus and teams were outside making a fire break in the thatch — it was soon brought under control preventing any spread to the remainder of the roof.'
Crews attended from Okehampton, North Tawton, Hatherleigh, Chagford, Torrington, Chumleigh, Crediton, Tavistock and Exeter.
Mr Donavan said the job was made all the more difficult because of the isolation of the property and water had to be pumped from a pond about half a mile away.
The two occupiers were not hurt.