FIREFIGHTERS had a hectic Easter weekend in Teignbridge.
Appliances from Ashburton and Buckfastleigh rushed to Ashburton Town Hall at 7.30pm on Thursday to free two people trapped in a lift.
On Good Friday, a coach caught fire at 1.45pm in Torquay Road, Newton Abbot. Two fire appliances extinguished a small fire in the engine compartment.
Later the same day, a faulty dishwasher caught fire at Moors Park House, a residential home in Bishopsteignton. The fire spread to the kitchen, which was severely damaged. The 37 residents were evacuated as two fire appliances from Teignmouth fought to control the blaze.
A male carer suffered breathing problems and was given oxygen by ambulance paramedics. 'The staff were wonderful,' said a spokeswoman for Moors Park House. 'They were well trained in coping in the event of a fire, and all the training proved worthwhile. They were so quick and calm getting everyone out. The fire officer praised the way they coped.'
It could have been arson when five self-storage units at Haccombe Park on the Milber Trading Estate, Newton Abbot, caught fire at 1.30pm on Easter Sunday. Three were severely damaged and the contents of the other two were damaged by heat and smoke. The fire service called in police to investigate the cause. Firefighters used two hosereels and an air-powered hacksaw to control and extinguish the blaze.
At 2.20pm the same day, a van caught fire in Jetty Marsh Road, Newton Abbot. The van was badly damaged. Firefighters were called to a fiercely-burning derelict boat on the Teign estuary on Easter Monday at 4.40pm. Arson is suspected.
Two fire crews from Teignmouth and a four-wheeled drive from Dawlish tackled the fire on the 40-metre steel and timber boat near Bishopsteignton, but were unable to stop 15 metres of the railway embankment also being severely damaged by the flames. The last two Easter fires were natural causes. At 5.30pm a moorland fire broke out at Meldon Hill, Chagford, burning 20 metre areas of gorse, the flames fanned by high winds. Two fire crews, from Chagford and Bovey Tracey, used beaters to control the fire, allowing it to burn to the nearest natural firebreaks. Beaters were also used for a fire in the bushes at Coach Road, Decoy, Newton Abbot, which occurred shortly after 7pm. 'The dry weather is causing us many problems,' said a fire service spokesman.