Fire damages solar panels and roof at Cheriton Bishop village hall
Sept 2022Published 28 Sept 2026
- Where
- Cheriton Bishop village hall
- What
- Fire in roof solar panels spread through entire roof
- Injuries
- None reported
- Cause
- Fault in the solar panels on the roof
- Outcome
- 100 per cent damage to the roof
What happened
On 1 September 2022 a fire broke out at a single-storey village hall in Cheriton Bishop, measuring about 10 metres by 30 metres. Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said the fire involved solar panels on the roof and spread through the rest of the roof, causing 100 per cent damage to the roof. The rest of the building was damaged by heat, smoke and water. Attendance built from three fire engines, an aerial ladder platform and a supporting officer to eight fire engines, with one water bowser requested to help the water supply.
Crews used breathing apparatus, hose reel jets, main jets, ladders, thermal imaging cameras and a drone, and worked from the aerial platform to reach under the roof tiles. At 17:00 crews were still damping down. The service later recorded the incident as closed. Injuries were not reported.
Contributing factors
The fire service said the fire was accidental and was caused by a fault in the solar panels on the roof. It did not describe the nature of the fault.
Lessons learned
- Roof-mounted solar panels need regular checks for electrical faults that could ignite roof coverings.
- Where water supply may be limited, request a water bowser early for roof fires.
- Firefighting under roof-mounted panels may need aerial platforms and thermal imaging cameras.
Not yet known
- Nature of the solar panel fault
- Model and age of the solar panels
- Cost of the damage
- Duration of downtime
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Source
Published 2026-09-28. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.