A3 Guildford car fire blocks southbound carriageway at cathedral turn-off

A3 Guildford car fire blocks southbound carriageway at cathedral turn-off

The whole carriageway was shut and traffic stopped for a time just before lunchtime on Monday

A huge car fire which blocked the A3 southbound on Monday morning is captured in these images.

The blaze broke out just before midday at the cathedral turn-off in Guildford, with firefighters and police on the scene.

There were reports of queuing traffic southbound between the A322 Worplesdon Road/A25 Midleton Road/Guildford Business Park Road (Wooden Bridge juncyion) and Egerton Road (Cathedral Turn).

It is understood all traffic was stopped for a time.

A firefighter from Guildford station said: “We had three pumps on the scene and we used two breathing apparatus and hose reels to put out the fire.

“It [the car] was well alight by the time we arrived. I believe it was a Honda Civic with only one person in it, the driver, but they were out of the car when we arrived.

“No-one was injured and we were on the scene for around 30 minutes. An investigation is under way as to the cause of the fire.”

Gurpreet Tulsi was trying to take the Cathedral turn when he came across the blaze.

He said: “When I arrived, it [the car] was already on fire and I saw the ambulance coming with its lights on.

“The fire service came pretty quickly, two or three minutes after I arrived. They let some of the traffic through to allow the fire engines to get through.”

Mr Tulsi moved his car on to the side of the road to let emergency services through.

“Within about a minute of my arrival, the car became engulfed in flames. The owner of the car was stood by the bus having a discussion watching the fire.”

“The fire service put out the fire pretty quickly, 10 to 15 minutes. Traffic was stopped for around 20 minutes.

“At the front of the queue, people were a little bit nervous, we tried to reverse as far back as we could, obviously because you don’t know what is going to happen with a car fire and you don’t know how much fuel is in the car.

“There was lots of smoke in the air and I stood behind the ambulance to get some shelter.

“It seems there was just one person who owned the car. he was already out before I go out. It seems no-one was injured which is the main thing.”

Original source: GetSurrey

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