TAVISTOCK Firefighters are highlighting the use of smoke alarms in vehicles after they were called to a van on fire in Whitchurch last week.

Crews were called to Church Hill last Tuesday (June 6) where a VW Transporter had caught fire. On arrival of the crews, the vehicle was well alight. They used breathing apparatus, compressed air foam and a high pressure hose reel to extinguish the blaze.

A spokesperson for the fire service said: ‘Considerable damage was caused to the vehicle but fortunately no one was injured. Something that made us think was that the owner had previously slept in this vehicle — imagine if this had started at night.

‘There are lots of small camper type vans out there, which people use to stop on Dartmoor for a night or go surfing for the weekend — especially at this time of year and vehicle fires can spread fast.

‘Do you have a smoke alarm in yours? For the price of £5 it may well save your vehicle but would almost certainly save your life. Better still, fit a smoke and carbon monoxide alarm and have a fire extinguisher to hand.’

In this case, the fire crews believe the most probable cause for this incident would have been an electrical fault.

• Pictured is the burnt out van.