FIREFIGHTERS spent more than nine hours tackling a significant blaze at a listed building.

Neighbours looked on as crews doused flames at the empty house on Greenfield Road, near Holywell, in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Fire crews were call out at about 2am and investigations are being carried out to determine the cause.

Speaking at the scene Justin Evans, incident commander for North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, said: “We’re doing a fire investigation and will be working with the police and the CSI to establish the cause.

“This has been a significant fire which has damaged the roof and floor making firefighting difficult.”

Four appliances from Holywell, Flint, Deeside and Prestatyn were called to the scene, with the last crew not leaving until 11.25am.

An aerial ladder from Rhyl was also used to fight the fire.

A spokesman for North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said: “The cause is undetermined at the time being.

“There’s 20 per cent fire damage to the building, 100 per cent smoke damage to the first floor and 100 per cent water damage to the ground floor.”

Neighbours say the detached house had been empty for more than a year and was for sale.

Property website Rightmove shows the house as a 10- bedroom, “grade two listed house dating back to 1829 set within its own grounds”, for sale for £325,000. The website states the property had been removed from the market.

Neighbour Gary Catton said: “About 3am I woke up when I heard the fire brigade.
“I looked out the window and the house was well alight.

“The house has been empty for a long time.”

Another neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: “I heard a commotion, there weren’t flames at first, just a lot of smoke.

“It was so noisy we were up all night, they’ve been pouring water on it.

“It was a lovely old house. It needed a lot of work, but it’s a shame.”

A spokesman for Beresford Adams said the house had been withdrawn from the market last week.