WATER was pumped from a neighbour's swimming pool to stop a gas cylinder from exploding during a blaze at a workshop.

The fire broke out at the workshop in Mongewell, near Wallingford, at 5.30pm on Thursday.

Because of the rapid spread of the blaze the smoke could be seen from 10 miles away. When they arrived the workshop was well alight and there were reports from people on scene were that there was a large gas cylinder present in the building.

Six fire crews attended the incident coming from Didcot, Wallingford, Goring and Abingdon with more than 30 firefighters tackling the fire.

The blaze was brought under control after an hour and the cylinder was cooled using water pumped from a neighbor’s swimming pool; this prevented the cylinder from exploding. The blaze was contained to the workshop and was prevented from spreading to the nearby house.

Two people who were in the workshop at the time of the fire had to be treated for minor burns and smoke inhalation by paramedics.
None of their injuries were thought to be serious.

The cause of the fire is believed to be accidental although investigations are ongoing.

Watch Manager Jon Walker said: "We would like to make people aware of the dangers of using and decanting petrol in an enclosed space.

He went on to say that "in the event of a fire occurring we cannot stress strongly enough the need to get out of the building and raise the alarm. This could have been a far different story".