A blazing inferno engulfed a van shutting down a busy London street and damaging multiple cars with a fire so hot it “melted the road”.
Terrified residents in Kingsway, Enfield, made at least 11 emergency calls to London Fire Brigade around 3.30pm this afternoon (Monday).
The residential street, which is close to Southbury Overground Station, was packed with parked cars and after the van caught fire fire of them suffered damage.
Witness Mohamed Elmi took this video and photographs of the scene showing fire crews dampening down the smouldering wreckage of the van which had been completely gutted by flames. Mr Elmi said the fire service, police and ambulance service attended the scene.
According to the London Fire Brigade (LFB) council workers had to be called to the scene afterwards to repair the road which had been “melted” by the inferno.
A spokesperson for LFB said: “We got the call at 15:38, with 11 calls into the control room.
“One van was 100 percent damaged by fire, and five cars were also partially damaged by fire. Not suspicious at this stage. Local council were called to repair the road which had melted.”
The Metropolitan Police declined to make a statement saying London Fire Brigade were taking the lead on the incident. They are no reports of any casualties.
According to website Fireservice.co.uk, there are around 100,000 vehicle fires in Britain every year “which equates to nearly 300 a day go up in flames and around 100 people die as a result”.
The fire advice and rescource site adds: “Around 65 percent of these fires are started deliberately to cover criminal activity, to make a fraudulent insurance claim or as an act of vandalism. One in 12 reported stolen vehicles will be burnt out.
“Many other vehicle fires break out simply due to a lack of basic maintenance and can be prevented.
“The financial loss of having a car fire is bad enough and although insurance may compensate for this, nothing can help with the shock and inconvenience that follow even a small fire.”
The AA states that if a vehicle catches fire the driver should “turn the engine off but leave the key in”, adding you should then “use an emergency phone to call for help”.
It stressed drivers should not “open the bonnet, which may be hot and can increase the fire” and not “try to put the fire out yourself, unless it’s only just started”.