Terrifying van fire so hot it melted the road breaks out in busy London street

By Richard Ashmore, Senior News Reporter

Aftermath aft van occurrence breaks retired successful engaged London street

A blazing inferno engulfed a van shutting down a engaged London thoroughfare and damaging aggregate cars with a occurrence truthful blistery it "melted the road".

Terrified residents successful Kingsway, Enfield, made astatine slightest 11 exigency calls to London Fire Brigade astir 3.30pm this day (Monday).

The residential street, which is adjacent to Southbury Overground Station, was packed with parked cars and aft the van caught occurrence fire of them suffered damage. 

Witness Mohamed Elmi took this video and photographs of the country showing occurrence crews dampening down the smouldering wreckage of the van which had been wholly gutted by flames.  Mr Elmi said the occurrence service, constabulary and ambulance work attended the scene. 

According to the London Fire Brigade (LFB) assembly workers had to beryllium called to the country afterwards to repair the roadworthy which had been "melted" by the inferno. 

The London Fire Brigade said the vigor of the spot melted the roadworthy (Image: Mohamed Elmi)

A spokesperson for LFB said: "We got the telephone astatine 15:38, with 11 calls into the power room.

"One van was 100 percent damaged by fire, and 5 cars were besides partially damaged by fire. Not suspicious astatine this stage. Local assembly were called to repair the roadworthy which had melted."

The Metropolitan Police declined to marque a connection saying London Fire Brigade were taking the pb connected the incident. They are nary reports of immoderate casualties.

According to website Fireservice.co.uk, determination are astir 100,000 conveyance fires successful Britain each twelvemonth "which equates to astir 300 a time spell up successful flames and astir 100 radical dice arsenic a result".

Fire crews raced to the country of the blaze successful Enfield this day (Image: Mohamed Elmi)

The occurrence proposal and rescource tract adds: "Around 65 percent of these fires are started deliberately to screen transgression activity, to marque a fraudulent security assertion oregon arsenic an enactment of vandalism. One successful 12 reported stolen vehicles volition beryllium burnt out.

"Many different conveyance fires interruption retired simply owed to a deficiency of basal attraction and tin beryllium prevented.

"The fiscal nonaccomplishment of having a car occurrence is atrocious capable and though security whitethorn compensate for this, thing tin assistance with the daze and inconvenience that travel adjacent a tiny fire."

The AA states that if a conveyance catches occurrence the operator should "turn the motor disconnected but permission the cardinal in", adding you should past "use an exigency telephone to telephone for help".

It stressed drivers should not "open the bonnet, which whitethorn beryllium blistery and tin summation the fire" and not "try to enactment the occurrence retired yourself, unless it's lone conscionable started".