Garage fire in Charles Street

Clouds of smoke drifted across Herne Bay, and at first it wasn't entirely clear where the smoke was coming from. After criss-crossing town, I found the Fire Brigade doing their good stuff at one of the garages backing on to Charles Street.

A car was destroyed when a blaze ripped through a Herne Bay garage. Two fire crews rushed to the workshop, near Rodney’s Sports Bar, at 3.30pm 2nd Feb. An overturned electrical heater appears to have started the blaze, which quickly spread to the eaves and roof. A Mini car was destroyed.

Crew manager Paul Austin explained the fire had already taken hold by the time they arrived. He said:

“We had to make a forced entry to both the front and the back of the garage as smoke was already blowing out into the street making visibility quite difficult. We also punctured a hole in the roof to increase the ventilation. That also gave us a chance to fight the flames from above as well as below.

The freezing temperatures meant we also called out the highways officers to grit the road as the water we’d used was turning to ice almost immediately.”

Crews had the fire under control by 4.30pm.

kentonline 3rd Feb 2012