Camper van destroyed after engine catches fire north of Lerwick

Firefighters were called out early on Sunday afternoon to tackle a camper van on fire on the A970 near the Frakkafield junction, around two miles north of Lerwick.

The VW Autosleeper caravanette was being driven into Lerwick when the engine caught fire. All passengers managed to escape the vehicle and there were no injuries.

The fire and rescue service received the emergency call at 1.03pm and two appliances from Lerwick went to the scene. They extinguished the blaze using two hose reel jets, one jet and foam, and had to use two sets of breathing apparatus.

A spokesman said the motor home was completely destroyed. Four stove cylinders of camping gas exploded in the incident, and firefighters also had to cool a cylinder of butane gas.

Due to the large amount of thick black smoke at the scene, the road was closed for public safety for around two hours while the van was removed and diversions put in place.

The council’s roads department also attended and cleared the area of debris, ensuring it was safe for road users. The road was fully open again at around 5pm.