FIREFIGHTERS and staff have been praised for their quick actions after a motorhome went up in flames at a petrol station in Weymouth.
Firefighters raced to the Morrisons petrol station in Dorchester Road at just after 9am on Saturday after a vehicle became engulfed in flames while at the pumps.
The vehicle was destroyed and the roof of the petrol station was damaged. It is believed the occupants escaped from the vehicle unharmed while staff took action to shut off the pumps.
Dorchester Road was partially closed for the fire service to attend while police attended to direct traffic away from the supermarket. About 20 firefighters were working at the scene.
The main store was back open after a while but the petrol station remains closed and is expected to be shut for some time while the damage is repaired.
Weymouth town councillor Graham Winter said he was shocked to see the damage caused to the vehicle and petrol forecourt following the fire on Saturday morning but was relieved that no one was harmed and that the fire was able to be quickly contained.
He said: "I was shocked to see the burnt out campervan in a petrol station, the ramifications of which were quite honestly horrendous.
"However, thanks to the quick action from staff and the prompt response from the fire service they were able to avert what could have been a major disaster.
"The fire brigade and staff at Morrisons, I would like to congratulate them, that they managed to contain a blaze and avert a major danger."
A Morrisons spokesperson said: "Our petrol station will remain closed until further notice but thankfully no-one was hurt. The main store is now back open too."
Weymouth resident, Barbara Davis, 66, went to Morrisons supermarket to do some shopping with her husband when they witnessed the blaze.
She said: "We just came out and my husband said 'what's that smoke?' I looked across, and then we realised there were flames as well. We thought we better get out quick and managed to get in the car and drive out.
"As we drove past we could feel the heat from the fire and staff were all out in the road trying to direct the traffic away to stop anybody else coming in and to make sure that nobody was getting too close to it."
Describing the fire Mrs Davis said: "It was very intense and very hot. We didn't have any windows open but we could feel the heat in the car and it was really strong. As we came out into the road we could still feel the heat and could see the smoke was getting quite thick.
"I think we left just a few minutes before the fire engines arrived."
She added: "It must have gone up really quick though because we were only in the shop around five, maybe 10 minutes.
"It was just the billowing smoke we saw and then we saw flames starting to come out and by the time it took us to drive past the garage the flames started to get really big. It was quite a shock.
"We were very concerned about the camper van and if anyone was in there."
On the scene, District fire commander for Weymouth and Portland, James Plumley said: “Crews have been called to a significant fire of a large camper van. The cause at this moment is unknown.
"Significant damage has been caused to the forecourt, to the roof and to the petrol pumping equipment. It has completely destroyed the campervan.
"Crews from Weymouth and Dorchester attended plus the aerial ladder platform from Weymouth.
“Crews have done an excellent job at stopping the fire from spreading.”
Another witness, James Tourgout, was at the scene whilst emergency services were there. He said: "It could have been pretty catastrophic if the whole station blew up. The firefighters must have done well in a very pressurised situation.
"When I went up there, they were diverting traffic along Icen Road and Mercery Road. All of Spa Road was pretty congested."
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