Fireman injured in huge garage blaze
Feb 21 2008 by Dave Black, The Journal
A FIREFIGHTER was taken to hospital after suffering burns during a 12-hour operation to tackle a blaze which ripped through part of a garage business in Northumberland early yesterday.
The fire caused severe damage to the Kingsway MoT, car service and repairs centre in Front Street, Bebside, near Blyth, after it was reported to the fire service at about 8.25pm on Tuesday.
Four fire crews and an aerial ladder appliance from the Tyne and Wear brigade found the building well alight, and worked through the night to control the blaze and prevent it spreading to an adjoining vehicle sales centre.
The ladder was used to tackle the flames from above and firefighters from Cramlington, Blyth, Ashington and Alnwick faced freezing temperatures – which saw water from hoses freeze on the road – and an unstable building as they battled to bring the incident under control.
One firefighter was taken to Wansbeck General Hospital after suffering minor burns to his neck when he was caught in a shower of melting bitumen and falling timber from the roof, but was allowed home after treatment.
Gas cylinders in danger of blowing up and four cars in the MoT unit were removed by crews. The garage annex included three flats and three people watching a football match in one of them had to be evacuated.
The road past the garage, which links Blyth and Bedlington, was closed to traffic and pedestrians while the operation was carried out, and remained shut during damping-down operations yesterday morning.
The blaze left the garage a blackened shell with its roof burnt out and firefighters used the aerial ladder yesterday to inspect the condition of the building from above. Structural engineers visited the scene and concluded that the damaged building cannot be saved and will have to be demolished.
A fire investigation team from the Northumberland fire and rescue service began a probe into the cause of the blaze, although there were no early indications that it is suspicious.
Yesterday group manager Lee Buckingham said: “This was a major fire that had to be tackled in very challenging conditions.
“More than 25 firefighters were at the scene and we had to use specialist equipment to bring the blaze under control. Our crews worked extremely hard throughout the night to control the fire and, fortunately, no members of the public were injured.”
Yesterday local resident John Dawe, who lives next to the railway line at Bebside, said: “It was about 8.30pm when I saw the fire engines start to arrive, along with a turntable ladder. The firemen were there all night.”
