Firefighters tackle blaze at car firm

DOZENS of firefighters tackled a blaze in a village car repair firm after flames swept through the building and threatened to ignite gas canisters.

Crews from across west Suffolk and one from Cambridgeshire were drafted in to tackle the fire at LC Autos, based at Stone Bridge Farm, Kedington, and at its height more than 30 firefighters were involved in the operation.

Three people managed to escape the blaze, which is thought to have started during work to repair a vehicle's fuel pipe.

Although one of them needed treatment from an ambulance crew for the effects of breathing in smoke he is not thought to have been taken to hospital.

Fire chiefs threw a 100 metre exclusion zone around the business once the full seriousness of the incident at lunchtime on Saturday was assessed.

Bryan Wallace, 79, his wife Beryl, 78, live at the farm.

Mr Wallace said: “There was someone working on a car when a spark lit some petrol.

“When I went outside the guy who had been in the garage seemed pretty scared.

“The fire spread quickly through the roof but the fire engine arrived seven minutes later and calmed the situation down.”

Assistant Divisional Officer Carl Francis, second in command, said the original call was to a car fire but officers quickly realised it was far more serious and needed a massive response from permanent and retained crews from across the area to stop it sweeping out of control.

As it was the blaze destroyed 40% of the 30m by 30m repair building, said Mr Francis.

However, the fire chief said the damage could have been far worse.

“It was a substantial fire but the first officer on the scene realised there was the potential for the fire to spread to liquid petroleum cylinders and there was also a possibility far more dangerous acetylene cylinders were also stored at the garage.

“There weren't any but other cylinders were removed at an early stage.”

Mr Francis said the workmen in the garage at the time managed to get out: “Three people left the premises as a result of the fire and the most likely cause was work being undertaken on a fuel pipe of a vehicle within the workshop of the commercial garage.”

He said the crews - two from Haverhill, one from Wickhambrook, one from Clare, one from Bury St Edmunds, the Bury turntable ladder and an engine from Linton in Cambridgeshire - were faced with a well developed fire.

“It had burned through the roof of the building. It was a substantial fire but it was brought under control very rapidly. Crews worked hard at a very early stage to bring the fire under control.

“There were lots of retained firefighters involved and they came from all over the place and worked hard to put the fire out within 45 minutes of us getting here.”

A number of engines remained at the scene for several hours after the fire, which broke out at just after 1pm on Saturday, to ensure there were no pockets of flames in the debris of the building.

Fire chiefs also informed the Environment Agency of the incident but it was not thought any chemicals or oil had escaped into the environment.

Source : eadt.co.uk