South Shields garage severely damaged by fire after car goes up in flames

A commercial garage was severely damaged after a car caught fire.

About 25 firefighters were called to the premises in South Shields to extinguish the blaze after it took hold at Evans Yard in the Templetown area.

Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service were called at 10:40am on Thursday 6 October. The single-story building was well ablaze when the first crew arrived on scene six minutes later.  

No-one was injured in the fire, which is not believed to have been started deliberately.

Station manager Andy Blower said: "This has been a fantastic response by both our fire control staff and the firefighters who have quickly jumped into action at the scene.

“This has been a serious fire that engulfed a large, commercial premises and the actions of our staff have prevented it from spreading to a number of nearby properties.

"The damage has been significant but workers at the garage acted bravely in the moments after the fire started to attempt to extinguish it.

"Unfortunately the fire spread far too quickly and there was nothing they could do. We will continue to support them as best we can.

"Following initial investigations, it is not believed this fire was started deliberately and nobody has reported to have been injured."

People living near the garage were advised to keep windows and doors shut due to the large amount of smoke.  

In total, seven appliances, including the fire service's aerial ladder platform vehicle, and more than 25 firefighters were dispatched to bring the fire under control.

The fire was brought under control by lunchtime and firefighters were due to remain on scene in the afternoon to fully extinguish it.  

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