Driver Alan Cameron and colleague Derek Pickles had a lucky escape when their removals lorry burst into flames on the A31 a few miles from their destination of Weymouth.
The Britannia Caledonian lorry had traveled over 400 miles from Glasgow without any problems but began to fill with acrid smoke at Corfe Mullen in Dorset. Amazingly no one was hurt, but most of the unfortunate family’s possessions were lost in the blaze.
According to a report in the Daily Mirror, Mr. Cameron said he felt lucky to be alive after the incident, which took place at 10.15am on Wednesday 6 November. "It was about a minute between seeing the smoke, to us stopping and then the whole thing going up in flames. It is terrifying because if we had driven another 100 metres we would have been right next to a petrol station. I don't even want to think about what could have happened,” he said.
A member of staff from The Caravan Company, which has premises only a few meters away, shot this dramatic picture of the van engulfed in flames. Manager Stephen Green said at one stage he considered moving some of the caravans further from the road to protect them from the heat, but fortunately the blaze was soon brought under control by the Fire Brigade.
Britannia Leatherbarrows assisted by transporting the remains of the load to their Bournemouth warehouse where it was inspected by Britannia’s insurance representatives and members of the family.
An investigation into the fire was being carried out at the time of writing but had not yet established its cause.
Incidents of this kind are rare in the removals industry and although the heartbreak of losing the entire contents of ones home cannot be entirely mitigated by money, it highlights the importance of having adequate insurance. Like most reputable removal companies Britannia Caledonian has a policy of including insurance in the price of a move and in this case the family has been offered a settlement figure in line with that insurance contract.
Mike Mason from Britannia Caledonian preferred not to comment on the incident while the investigation was still taking place, but thanked Leatherbarrows for their help and said he was thankful no one had been injured.
Picture: The burning truck, as photographed by The Caravan Company Manager Stephen Green.