Major fire in Park Gate retail park sees blaze sweep across several vans and a nearby house

MORE than 20 firefighters from five fire stations were called to a blaze that destroyed three vans and had begun to spread to a nearby house in Park Gate last night.
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The fire destroyed three vans used for tyre fitting in a Halfords store car park in Southampton Road, and was beginning to spread to a nearby house in The Willows.

Crews from Fareham, Botley, High Town, Portchester, and St Mary’s fire stations were called at 8.35pm – with 20 firefighters tackling the blaze for more than four hours.

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Picture: Portchester Fire StationPicture: Portchester Fire Station
Picture: Portchester Fire Station
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Using an aerial platform from St Mary’s, the crews were able to stop the fire spreading to a nearby house and evacuate the property.

Fareham Fire Station crew manager Ben Tatman said: ‘There was a wall between the vans and the house, and that was deflecting a lot of the heat from the fire, but some of the fixtures at the gable end of the property were beginning to melt and catch fire.

‘The difficulty we had was accessing the vehicles – they contained a lot of hazard materials, like batteries and high pressure tanks.

‘They also contained about 100 tyres, so there were quite a few pops and bangs.’

Picture: Portchester Fire StationPicture: Portchester Fire Station
Picture: Portchester Fire Station
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Three main hose reels, two hose reel jets, and a ultra high pressure lance were used to bring the fire under control.

The firefighter said that the blaze attracted a lot of attention from residents, causing social distancing to ‘go out the window’.

He said: ‘There was quite a big gathering of members of the public who had come to watch the fire – at least 30 people just stood around.’

The fire in the Halfords car park, in Southampton Road, Fareham, saw three tyre fitting vans catch alight on Tuesday evening.The fire in the Halfords car park, in Southampton Road, Fareham, saw three tyre fitting vans catch alight on Tuesday evening.
The fire in the Halfords car park, in Southampton Road, Fareham, saw three tyre fitting vans catch alight on Tuesday evening.

Staff from Halfords also helped.

No-one was injured in the incident, and a fire investigation team has yet to confirm the cause of the fire.

A video captured by Charlotte Eva, at the top of this story, shows firefighters battling the blaze.

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