Hot rod survives blaze
Cars destroyed in mechanical workshop
A 70-YEAR-OLD hot rod was the sole survivor of a blaze that destroyed 12 vehicles inside a mechanic’s garage at Bungalow early yesterday morning.
Staff and owners of the Buchan St Service Centre were devastated after the inferno gutted their workshop about 4.30am, leaving most of the cars they had been working on in “varying degrees of being melted”.
There were no reports of injuries.
Centre co-owner Peter Digweed, who arrived at the scene shortly after the fire had been put out, said it did not appear many of the contents of the building, which was leased, was salvageable.
“There’s an old Dodge in the back corner that seems to have survived, a 1940s hot rod,” he said.
“We’re doing work for the owners on it. That was our first concern – the state of that, because it’s worth a lot of money.
“There are other cars inside that are in varying degrees of being melted.”
Mr Digweed said he did not know how the fire started and was still awaiting information from Queensland Fire and Emergency Services.
Fifteen firefighters had rushed to the scene within four minutes of being alerted via 000 calls.
Cairns Fire Station officer Troy Hastie told reporters the building fire had been potentially very dangerous, due to combustible gas cylinders, fuel and other elements.
“On arrival, there was a large number of explosions that we saw,” he said.
“The building was well involved, so crews went into action with breathing apparatus, and houselines.
“We found it hard to make entry, so we’ve had to relocate to the front of the building, and cut the roller door to make entry.”
Mr Hastie said the early notification about the blaze had prevented the fire from escalaing.
He said the cause of the fire was unknown at this stage, however investigators would examine the scene.
“There was no forced entry identified,” he said.