Fire at the Churchill Arms

In the early hours of Monday 14th March 2022, a fire broke out in the Churchill Arms.  It took fire crews several hours to bring it under control.  The listed building in the centre of Paxford was extensively damaged.  There was one person sleeping in the building at the time and he managed to escape and was taken to hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation.  There were eight people staying in the adjoining holiday let who were woken by smoke seeping through into one of the bedrooms.  They all managed to get out safely and were looked after by villagers until they went home curtailing their holiday.

The following day, the fire brigade had to be called out again because of  a resurgence of smouldering from under a floor.  In the week after, the building was quickly made safe by the erection of scaffolding and removal of anything that might drop from the roof.  The ground floor does not appear to be burnt but there is a lot of water damage.  It is thought that the fire started in an industrial freezer beside the kitchen.

We are all hoping that our treasured village pub will reopen but are expecting a long wait.