Blaze drama as £7k speedboat destroyed
THE owner of a speedboat destroyed in a suspected arson attack has told how he risked being caught up in the blaze as he tried to move his other vehicles.
Danny Bird, 50, from Romiley, woke in the early hours of Friday to find his £7,000 boat ablaze.
The fire had begun to spread to his truck, which he raced to move before getting his car clear.
Danny, a self-employed gas engineer, said: “My wife woke me and I came outside. The boat was properly going and the fence was on fire.
“The truck was smoking and just about to catch fire so I got the keys to try and drive it out of the way.”
Danny, who lives with wife Michelle and son, regularly took the boat which was not insured - to Windermere in the Lake District and Loch Lomond, in Scotland.
A neighbour raised the alarm and but for him the fire could have spread to a nearby garage.
Firefighters from Whitehill and Offerton stations were called at 4am and used hose reels and breathing apparatus to put out the blaze.
It also damaged the truck and the garage suffered heat damage.
Anyone with information can contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.