Heroes prevent campervan explosion at Ringstead in Dorset

The vehicle caught fire in the car park next to the Reef Café at Ringstead.

The fire presented a potentially dangerous situation as the campervan contained a gas cylinder, which could have exploded if ignited.

However, two men who were in the area and quickly noticed the danger acted quickly to tackle the fire and prevent serious damage.

One of them was Marcus White, who stood in the general election for the Everyone is God Party.

Marcus White and his partner Rosie Morrell at Ringstead Bay (Image: Marcus White)

Mr White was at the café at Ringstead when the vehicle caught fire.

Thankfully, no-one was in the vehicle at the time.

Mr White said: "My partner and I went to Ringstead Bay and we were ordering food at the café when the lady at the till noticed smoke coming out of a campervan.

"I went over to have a look and the van was on fire, I could see smoke coming out of the back.

"I thought that I needed to try and stop the fire before the fuel tank exploded, there was also a gas cylinder on board so it could have been a major explosion if the fuel tank went up."

He added: "There was a fire burning in the middle of the van, some dog blankets and pillows had caught fire.

"Another man managed to open the side door to the van, it was full of smoke.

"I pulled the blankets and pillows out and went to get a fire extinguisher from the café and then put the rest of the fire out.

"I tried to check the electrics in case something was causing the fire.

"There was quite a lot of panic at the time but I was able to assess the situation, at that stage it was a small risk but a few minutes later it could have been very different.

"There was a window of opportunity which I used to stop things getting worse."

The fire service arrived shortly after.

Mr White said he discovered the owner of the campervan had been on the beach at the time and he spoke to them later to update them on the situation.

Firefighters inside the camper van (Image: Marcus White)

A fire investigator was called to identify the cause of the fire.

A spokesperson for Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue said: "We received a call at 3.52pm on Monday afternoon with reports of a vehicle fire at a car park in Ringstead.

"A crew from Weymouth attended the incident which involved a campervan, but the fire was out on arrival."