Car fire spreads to Wolverhampton bungalow as owner reverses out of garage
A driver had a lucky escape after his car caught fire while he was in it before the blaze spread to his home.
Probation worker Peter Ross was trying to reverse the vehicle out of the garage at his Wolverhampton bungalow.
The fire wrecked the garage and destroyed the boiler, knocking out the electrics, at the property in Church Hill, Penn. His wife Diana witnessed the blaze unfold.
She said: "The car had been playing up earlier in the day and it wasn't accelerating, he couldn't get it above 50.
"He got into the garage, tried to rev it, and it suddenly filled with smoke. As he reversed out there was a piece of carpet on the garage floor that was underneath the car that was on fire, which I put out. But then I noticed the underside of the car was on fire. I was shouting to him to get out."
At first, Mr Ross did not realise what his wife was telling him, and insisted on continuing to drive the car out of the garage despite the car filling with smoke.
He said: "I just thought it was the fumes from the exhaust, and I thought she would tell me off if I got the fumes in the garage." After realising the danger, Mr Ross got out and left the car on the drive while the fire brigade was called.
But then the couple, who have seven grandchildren, noticed flames flicking across their front window and discovered the garage had caught fire.
Two fire crews, from Bilston and Tettenhall, were called to the fire at 7pm on Saturday, and were at the scene for four hours.
Bilston fire station watch commander Ade Cope said: "The driver parked it on the drive but the radiant heat intensified and caught the property."
