The owner of an Elizabeth Town antique store was unaware of a fire in his backyard until hearing a loud “boom”.
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Ken Cooper said after hearing the noise on Friday, September 21, he turned around to see his $65,000 Fiat Winnebago engulfed by flames.
As the fire began to spread from the camper van and onto the nearby house and surrounds, Mr Cooper jumped into action to save his home.
“I got up on the roof of the house to put the fire out,” he said.
“I was trying to toss buckets of water at the wall.”
Tasmania Fire Service was called out to Elizabeth Town Collectables on the Bass Highway at 1.48pm.
Crews from the Deloraine, Elizabeth Town, and Westbury fire brigades attended the scene.
Tasmania Police advised motorists to drive through the area with caution due to the thick smoke coming from the fire.
Deloraine Fire Brigade leading firefighter Andrew Sherriff said when the crew arrived the camper van was fully engulfed in flames and the fire had spread to the weatherboards at the back of the home.
“The fire seems to have started in the camper van, which was parked around the back of the house,” he said,
“On arrival, we noticed a lot of smoke at the back of the house.
“There was someone up on the roof attempting to extinguish what had caught the house on fire.
“We concentrated on getting the house put out first. The camper was already well engulfed in flames.”
Mr Sherriff said after extinguishing the flames at the back of the house, they then focussed on the camper van and surrounds.
“The camper was a complete loss,” he said.
“Because of the long grass around the back and the blackberries, the fire had crept right around the back of the other buildings and shops.
“We had to get that out as well to stop that going any further.”
Mr Sherriff said the house had minor damage, evident only in the burnt weatherboards in the top left corner of the back of the structure.
“We managed to stop the fire from getting into the house, and doing further damage to the house,” he said.
“There are bits and pieces and odds and ends in the backyard which were burnt, but that’s hard to put a value on.
“The biggest loss was definitely the camper.”
No one at the property was injured.
The definite cause of the fire was unknown. However, Mr Cooper said it could have been a gas leak or an electrical issue inside the camper van.
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