15040/01GAZETTE & HERALD: QUICK-THINKING manageress at the White Horse Inn in Compton Bassett has been thanked for saving the life of a customer after a blaze ripped through the restaurant last Thursday.

Angie Fry, 47, who lives at the pub, guided the elderly diner to safety after she got trapped in the ladies' toilets following a serious chimney fire.

Riddled with arthritis and using a walking stick, the pensioner was helped outside by her daughter and Ms Fry.

"A customer is sending me a letter of thanks because I helped her elderly mum, who suffers with arthritis and found it very difficult to walk," Ms Fry said.

"She went to the toilet because it was the only smoke-free zone but there's no way we could have got her out if the fire had spread.

"If she had been in the bar she would have been trapped and it could have been fatal. But I didn't panic. I never do. It's dangerous to panic."

The fire was caused by a build up of soot and debris in the chimney lining, which ignited.

It took firefighters almost five hours to make sure that the pub structure was safe.

Ms Fry, who only took over the pub last August, said: "I'm lucky to have a pub here at all. The flames were coming out of the chimney 3ft into the bar and 3ft high.

"We couldn't see a thing. There was smoke from floor to ceiling.

"It's very upsetting and a complete shock. I thought I would lose the whole building. There was smoke coming up through the floorboards. Luckily no guests were in their rooms."

Ms Fry was upstairs in her office doing table plans for the New Year's celebrations when her son, Dan Caulfield, 21, raised the alarm.

Dan, who also works at the pub, was getting in his car when he saw flames jumping out from the top of the chimney.

Ms Fry told how her son dialled 999 while her priority was to make sure everyone was out of the pub.

Speaking on Friday she said: "It was very traumatic. I'm in more shock today. I've felt really tearful. I was just so taken by surprise.

"Dan was a star. He was very brave."

Ms Fry feared her New Year plans had gone up in smoke but a regular customer and her family helped scrub all night on Thursday to get ready for business as usual on Friday.

All the pictures, bottles and mirrors were covered in grey ash and even the whisky behind the bar was hot.

"It was like a volcano had hit the pub. There was soot everywhere," Ms Fry said.

"Nothing was ruined. It all just needed washing down. The smell is the worst because it lingers. It smells like someone has died."

Instead of the beautiful open fire on New Year's Eve, Ms Fry put candles around the room to try and create the same ambience.

She also brought an electric log-effect fire to put in the fireplace.

"New Year's Eve was fantastic. No one could believe we'd had a fire. They were absolutely amazed," Ms Fry said.

"I've worked so hard to get it up to the standard it is now and so many of the locals adore it, but I nearly saw it all disappear before my eyes.

"I can't thank the Chippenham fire crews enough. They were fantastic. They wouldn't leave until they were sure beams inside the ceiling were not on fire."

A spokesman for the Chippenham station said: "When we got there the whole of the ground floor was heavily smokelogged. The fire hadn't spread but smoke had gone up into the roof space.

"Chimney fires are quite common and the Wiltshire Fire brigade would like to remind people who use open fires to have them swept regularly."