Firefighters order 100 families to flee their homes as huge fire breaks out at a car workshop in Weymouth
Hundreds of people have been forced to evacuate their homes after a huge fire broke out at an industrial unit in Weymouth.
More than 100 houses and flats in Weymouth, Dorset, were evacuated just after 5am when most people were still asleep in their beds and had to be woken up.
Teams of police knocked on doors, rang bells and shouted messages to rouse families and advise them to get out as fast as they could.
The drama – being described as a ‘major incident’ – began after firefighters were called to a car workshop blaze and said they feared some gas cylinders might explode any minute.
Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service said approximately 100 homes had been evacuated.
Reports on social media said a commercial garage in Holly Road is on fire and there are concerns about gas cylinders at the premises.
Weymouth resident Graham Sheppard said the fire was ‘massive’.
He added: ‘I thought someone was letting off fireworks from all the bangs.’
The British Red Cross in Dorset are providing assistance at the scene as still half-asleep residents are offereed steaming hot cups of tea.
It’s thought a local pub has opened its doors as a place where they can go.
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