A FAMILY who lost their livelihood in a massive blaze that forced the emergency services to evacuate 50 homes have praised the "heroic" efforts of firefighters.
Crews battled to contain the huge fire under "extreme and high risk" circumstances.
The raging 30ft high flames, which elicited vast black plumes of smoke that could be seen several miles away, engulfed Woodbury Car Breakers mid afternoon on Sunday, July 20.
At its height, the inferno was tackled by about 100 fire fighters from across the district.
Business owners Cheryl and Laurence McGauley, hailed the fire fighters, who raced to the scene at about 2.20pm and faced exploding gas cylinders and fierce heat, their "heroes", while residents described their efforts as "terrific" and "fantastic".
A 200m cordon was coordinated by fire and police officials and dozens of neighbours living near to the blaze, which gutted three workshops and destroyed about 200 cars, were evacuated for several hour, eventually allowed to return to their homes at around 8pm.
Praise has been heaped on fire fighters who remained on scene throughout the night and into Monday morning.
Strike action by Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service had been planned for 5pm to 7pm on Sunday, but was not implemented by the crews.
Nigel Deasy, station manager at incident command, described the fire as a "major incident" and one the biggest to occur in East Devon in the last year.
He described the task as extremely "high risk" given the volume of containers filled with flammable gases on site which were exploding, coupled with the "significant threat" of asbestos.
He explained that so ferocious were the heat and flames, that initially four out of six water jets had to be mounted on monitors until it was safe for crews to surround the entire site.
Crews continued to work "tirelessly" to attack the blaze and prevent it from spreading to nearby buildings.
He said the operation was at risk from running out of water and South West Water officials were drafted in to temporarily cut off the water supply to the village as the two accessible fire hydrants ran low, with crews having to access one point half-a-mile up the lane.
Environment Agency personnel were also on site to monitor the impact on the Gilbrook Stream.
When crews arrived, three engines were immediately increased to 10 and were drawn from across East and Mid Devon and Exeter.
At the height of the operation there was a total of 16 appliances including six specialist units, two of which travelled from Somerset.
Having identified that there was no one on site, the priority was preventing the spread of the fire to nearby buildings.
By about 5pm the fire had been contained and crews remained at the site dampening down.
An investigation into the cause, thought to have originated in one of the workshops, is ongoing.
"We want to thank the neighbours and the community for how they pulled together," said Cheryl. "And for the fire crews who were so dedicated and went above and beyond to stop it from spreading. If they hadn't, the effect on local people could have been much different.
"We thank them for what they did. Thank God they were there.
"They were heroic because of the added danger they faced with the exploding gas cylinders which were like bullets, and because of the considerable heat.
"They were our heroes."
Mrs McGauley said the clear-up of the site was under way and she hoped the business would be up-and-running in the near future but they were continuing to take enquiries.
Dozens of residents took refuge in the village hall, where the effort was coordinated by caretaker Liz Hanes, as well as the local pubs.
The incident sparked a remarkable response from the community who rallied around to assist the evacuees.
Gordon Cameron, chairman of the Village Hall Committee, who could see the smoke from the boat he was on four miles out to sea, said he returned to the village late afternoon to witness a "fantastic" community spirit.
"Liz did a sterling job in the hall," he said. "Everyone was rallying around to help. Everyone would have had a bed to sleep in that night if they should have needed it.
"The fire service did an absolutely fantastic job."
Volunteer members of the Red Cross Rapid Response Team brought provisions to those in need at the village hall in addition to the help offered by residents.
Sue Bury said: "I've never seen anything like it. It was a terrible thing to happen, but the whole incident was managed in the most incredibly efficient way. It is a credit to the emergency services."
Dave Drew, 66, who lives just meters from the site and was among the first to be evacuated, also praised the emergency services. He said: "There were huge clouds of black smoke with flames leaping up higher than the bushes. We thought it was going to eat-up our house at first.
"As soon as the first tender arrived the operation seemed to be really well executed, they did a terrific job. For a sleepy little village like Woodbury, this was quite a major event.
"There was a supportive atmosphere in the village, some people chose to go to the village hall, others to the pub. All the residents were well looked after."
Another neighbour, David Lynch, said police knocking on his door and asking his family to evacuate until further notice. "We heard small explosions and looked out to see the neighbours milling around," he said. "It was a huge event for the fire crews to deal with and we were hugely impressed, it seemed like a very slick operation."
