Gas explosion fear in caravan blaze

Fire crews from Blackpool were called to Windy Harbour Caravan site near Singleton at around 6.30pm on Thursday to reports a static caravan was ablaze.

On arrival crews were met by workers from the site who guided them to the scene. They found a static caravan which was heavily smoke logged with signs of a severe fire inside.

Crews wearing breathing apparatus entered the caravan and assisted by a ventilation fan quickly dealt with the fire.

While this was taking place the cylinders attached to the caravan were removed to a safe distance and adjacent caravans were evacuated.

Crews administered first aid to the occupier who had been inside when the fire had started.

Watch Manager Patrick Thompson said: “The cause of the fire is thought to be accidental ignition caused by a carelessly discarded match which ignited the other matches in the box. The occupier suffered no ill effects despite the caravan being badly damaged by fire and smoke.

“The caravan was fitted with a smoke detector which had activated and the occupier had the forethought to close the door when exiting preventing escalation.

“The staff of the caravan park did an excellent job of assisting the Fire Service and should be congratulated.”