11:00am Sunday 21st March 2010
By Alex Lewis
A large detached house in Bovingdon suffered serious smoke damage in a mysterious fire apparently started by an intruder last night.
Two carers smelt smoke at about 8pm when they arrived at the house, Bovingdon Grange in The Green, to look after an elderly man who is living in part of it.
By the time firefighters arrived from Hemel Hempstead, the carers had ensured their client was safely out of the house, but the ground floor was full of thick smoke, forcing them to call for help.
Soon no fewer than 30 firefighters and seven vehicles, from Watford, Garston, Rickmansworth and St Albans, were on the scene.
A Rickmansworth firefighter said: "The trouble was it was very difficult to find the source of the fire. I think it was actually in the fireplace.
"There was no damage to the outside, but the ground floor was very heavily smoke-logged."
Investigators are at the house, which is up for sale, this morning to establish exactly what happened.
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