[ad_1]
A mother-of-four says her family narrowly escaped when a fireball hurled at their car as a terrifying fire engulfed an Esso petrol station.
Flames shot into the air yesterday after a motorcycle erupted in flames while the rider was parked at the pumps to refuel.
Jordan Brown says her children were ‘screaming and shaking’ as their family ran for their lives as the inferno began to spread across the station.
The family heard a ‘loud bang’ as they watched the petrol pump ‘go up in flames.’ Dark smoke was billowing in the sky as the inferno raged on.
The family fled into the shop on the forecourt as their car was dangerously close to the blaze.
Firefighters told Mrs Brown ‘had it been any longer, the car and the rest of the place would have gone up’ in flames.
A fire exploded at an Esso petrol station in Washington on Tuesday after a motorcycle erupted in flames while the rider was parked at the pumps to refuel. Dark smoke billowed in the sky as the inferno engulfed the forecourt, forcing staff and customers to flee in terror
Flames shot into the air after the bike caught fire and spread to the pump which was still receiving fuel from the storage tanks under the ground, it is understood
Firefighters rushed to the Esso petrol station on Heworth Road, Washington, around 3.25pm yesterday after huge plumes of smoke could be seen for miles around.
A motorcycle had caught fire while fuelling. The blaze spread to the pump which was still receiving fuel from the storage tanks under the ground, it is understood.
Staff and customers fled in terror as the inferno engulfed the forecourt.
Mrs Brown, of Washington, Tyne and Wear, said the horrifying incident will haunt her family.
‘I was inside the petrol station paying for my petrol when my husband started beeping the car horn to get my attention,’ she recalled.
‘When I turned around I saw the pump go up in flames with a loud bang.
‘At that moment I just ran out the shop to help my husband get my kids out the car. I grabbed my two youngest and my husband grabbed the two oldest from the boot of the seven-seater car.’
The family fled into the shop on the forecourt as their car was dangerously close to the blaze.
She added: ‘We ran into the shop because we didn’t want to run in front of the fire as we didn’t know how long it was going to take for it to actually blow up properly.
‘We were banging on the door that leads out to the back, and shouting over the counter for the attendant, who had already left the premises.
‘I started moving the stuff off the counter ready for us to climb over when my husband tried the door. Thankfully it wasn’t locked. We ran out the back and across the road to where the other shops were.’
The fire service say they were lucky to survive without any injuries.
‘We’re so thankful that we’re all still here because it could have been so much worse,’ Mrs Brown explained.
‘One of the firemen has said that had it been any longer the car and the rest of the place would have gone up too.
‘The car has minimal exterior damage but nothing that can’t be fixed or sorted.’
Images taken after the blaze was extinguished reveal the business was left a smoking ruin
The blaze left extensive external damage to fuel pumps and the petrol station roof
It is not yet clear how the machine caught fire while it was being fuelled at the garage in Washington on Tyneside, but fire crews say they had to cut the supply of fuel to the blazing pump before the site could be fully evacuated
Firefighters spent 30 minutes battling the blaze and trying to isolate the petrol pump involved to avert an even more serious incident.
They called for reinforcements from Tyne and Wear Fire Service and the fire was brought under control. It was put out at 3.56pm following the attendance of two appliances at the scene.
It is not yet clear how the bike caught fire, but crews say they had to cut the supply of fuel to the blazing pump before the site could be fully evacuated.
Shocking images taken after the blaze was extinguished reveal the business was left a smoking ruin.
There is extensive external damage to fuel pumps and the petrol station roof.
The fire service said: ‘Our crews responded to a fire at Esso Petrol Station on Heworth Road in Washington following a call at 15.26pm. Two appliances attended the scene.
‘There were reports of a motorbike on fire. Our crews isolated the fuel device before evacuating the petrol station.
‘The incident concluded at 15.56pm. The cause of the fire is thought to be accidental.’
The petrol station has been closed and it is not yet clear when it will reopen to the public.
ExxonMobile, Esso’s parent company, had not responded to MailOnline’s request for comment at the time of publication.
[ad_2]
Source link