Firefighters tackled caravan inferno

A COUPLE fled their burning caravan home then watched on as it was engulfed by flames.

A woman was treated for smoke inhalation as she desperately tried to save her pet dog from the blaze, firefighters said.

Crews who raced to the Bowd in the early hours of last Saturday morning could see flames from the road. They acted fast to move away nearby petrol cans and gas cylinders and tackled the fire.

A dog was treated with oxygen therapy as ambulance crews attended to the couple, who had escaped the property before emergency services arrived at the site, opposite the Bowd Inn.

Sidmouth white watch commander Rob Crisp said a large residential caravan in which the couple lived with their dog was virtually destroyed by flames.

“By the time we got there the caravan was well alight,” he said, “The couple were out with the dog and suffering the affects of smoke inhalation.

“I believe the girl tried to coax the dog out and suffered slight smoke inhalation in doing so.

“Our main task was to make it safe so we could extinguish the flames. We removed cans of petrol and gas cylinders nearby.

“An ambulance was called for the couple, they were not badly affected by the smoke.

“The caravan was bad, I’d say 75per cent was severely damaged by the fire.

“We could see the flames from the road.”

He added it is not known what caused the blaze.

Emergency services including police were called the site opposite the Bowd Innn at around 2am on Saturday.

Two fire crews from Sidmouth donned breathing apparatus and used a thermal imaging camera to extinguish the fire.