These were the dramatic scenes in Highbridge this morning (Monday) after a motorbike burst into flames, causing the closure of the A38 and damaging a shop front.
Fire crews were called to the blaze in Church Street, just outside the Mike Jones TV shop, at 10am.
Police closed the A38 while firefighters tackled the blaze with a hose reel jet.
An eyewitness at the scene told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “The rider of the BMW motorbike pulled over, and smoke was seen coming from it initially before flames engulfed it. The rider tried using a blanket to put out the fire but it was just too intense.”
“The flames quickly spread around the bike and also damaged the canopy and shop front of Mike Jones TV. Fortunately, the rider was not hurt.”
A fire spokesman told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “Fire crews from Burnham-On-Sea and Bridgwater were mobilised to reports of a vehicle fire in Church Street just after 10am.”
“On arrival, crews confirmed this was a fire involving a motorcycle that had slightly spread to a nearby shop front.”
“Crews used a hose reel jet to extinguish the fire and used a thermal imaging camera to check for further fire spread.”
“The fire caused 100% damage to the motorcycle and 20% fire damage to the shop front. The cause of the fire was deemed accidental.”
Police diverted traffic along alternative routes while the A38 closure was in place. Bus services have been diverted too.
