A REMOTE farmhouse was destroyed in a blaze last night as firefighters battled in temperatures of -9 to bring the flames under control.

Water froze in the pipes as they struggled up steep hillsides covered in black ice.

A senior Burnley fire officer described them as they worst conditions he had seen in 20 years.

And today West Yorkshire police scenes of crime officers and forensic experts sealed off the remote two-storey farmhouse above Todmorden as they tried to establish what caused the mystery Boxing Day blaze.

Police said a woman in the house was helped to safety and taken to an ambulance which was unable to reach Height Top Farm because of black ice on Carr Road.

She had slight facial injuries but refused hospital treatment.

The farm is the home of Mrs Josie Hartley. Last October she married Mr Billy Hartley, who was in his mid-fifties, but he died in November.

Mr Hartley was buried in the garden next to the farm after relatives were given special permission. His family had farmed Height Top for many years.

Firefighters set up a seven pump relay a mile and a half across the moors to link a hydrant at the Roebuck Inn, Portsmouth, to the farm.

Two crews from Burnley were called out and, over a five-hour period, appliances from Todmorden, Mytholmroyd, Halifax, Elland, Halifax, Keighley and Haworth were in attendance.

Todmorden's crew spent all night on the moor damping down and described the weather as "arctic".

Burnley Sub Officer Peter Latham said the conditions were the worst he had witnessed in 20 years of firefighting.

He said: "After the fire was out we went back to the house to begin the process of turning over all the smouldering items, but because the water pressure was less and the wind chill factor the water began to freeze in the pipes and caused several bursts.

"In the end we sent the engines down to the Roebuck, filled each appliance and took water the back over the moors to the fire."

A spokeswoman for West Yorkshire police said the fire was being treated as suspicious until a cause could be found.

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