A MAN suffered burns as fire ripped through a caravan on Newton Abbot’s Buckland estate yesterday (September 10).

The casualty sustained minor burns to his face and hands as he responded to the blaze in Moorland View which spread to a nearby property and vehicle.

Firefighters threw a security cordon around the scene and evacuated nearby properties amid fears a 14kg gas cylinder might explode.

The blast was averted as the cylinder safely vented ignited gas without any major hazard.

The privately-owned caravan was badly damaged in the incident which flared up just before 10.30am

The fire-affected vehicle suffered 20 per cent damage while the exterior of the property escaped with slight heat damage to a fascia board and some guttering, downpipes and a wooden fence.

Three fire crews responded to the emergency – two from Newton Abbot and one from Torquay together with a brigade operational assurance officer.

Paramedics were called to the scene to treat the injured man.

A fire spokesman said two sets of breathing gear were worn to fight the blaze which was extinguished using one main jet and a hosereel jet.

The spokesman said the cause of the fire was ‘accidental.’