Fire fighters were called out to tackle a domestic garage fire in Tavistock at the weekend.

On Saturday evening at about 9.30pm two crews from Tavistock initially attended the fire developing outside in a storage area of a double garage with a dormer above.

Crews got to work to extinguish the fire, but the fire had spread into the interior of the garage and the roof.

At first, the incident commander requested an additional appliance from Yelverton, but then as the incident escalated a further two appliances were required which were sent from Bere Alston and Crownhill.

Crews in breathing apparatus extinguished the fire after cutting away the internal ceilings and removing the slates. Initially crews believed that the slates might have contained asbestos and a decontamination area was set up to remove the contaminant from the firefighters and equipment. 

It was later determined that there was not any asbestos .

Crews returned to the scene yesterday (Sunday) morning to ensure there were no hot spots with a thermal imaging camera but no further damping down was required.

The fire is believed by the fire service to have been accidental, caused by refuse being burnt too close to the buildings.

A spokesman for Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said: 'If you have any type of controlled fire even it’s just in your garden, firstly we ask you to contact our control room on 03333 399 0014 and let them know this will save you getting a visit from us!

'Also to stay with your fire at all times, have a method to extinguish your fire should something go wrong and finally to fully extinguish the fire when you have finished.'