UPDATE 11.33am: The house belongs to Lavinia and Alfred Gooding, daughter Jo Bolwell told the Argus.

The couple had gone upstairs to bed last night when Mrs Gooding heard a noise from above.

She initially feared her husband, 82, had fallen but the pair soon discovered the noise had not been either of them and then feared there was a burglar.

The flames of the fire were "massive", said Mrs Bolwell who praised the actions of the fire service, who have been at the house all night.

Her brother Lloyd confirmed their parents are safe and well.

She said the house will have to be rebuilt and the family will "start again".

The family have asked for privacy at this time.

 

MORE than 50 fire fighters tackled a blaze in a Newport house last night.

Fire crews from Malpas, Maindee, Duffryn, Cwmbran, Roath, Abercarn, Caerphilly, Tonypandy and Pontypridd were at the scene at the height of the blaze, at Brynhedydd house, Rhiwderin.

Head of fire control Jennie Griffiths tweeted that, after the call came in shortly after midnight, residents started ringing in saying the fire was in the roof and was well alight.

A hydraulic platform and aerial ladder responded along with six pumps and three water bowsers.

Within 30 minutes a breathing apparatus support unit had gone to the fire site but no people were reported as being in the house or injured by the blaze, said a spokeswoman for South Wales Fire and Rescue Service.

At 1.30am fire control received a message from the scene to say that the fire involved the upper floors of the house and the roof space.

All crews fought the fire for three and a half hours and at 4.49am the Incident Commander began to scale the resources down, said Ms Griffiths.

"Crews continued to damp down the fire site throughout the night and remain at the scene at present," she tweeted.

"The cause of the fire has not yet been established and Fire Investigation will determine later today. Latest message from crews at site states damping down of fire site with water bowsers through platform ladder will continue."

Due to the amount of water being used by fire fighters, the service notified Welsh Water and National Rivers Wales, as well as Newport council and the police, explained a spokeswoman for South Wales Fire and Rescue Service.