A senior fire fighter has praised firemen for extinguishing a major blaze in a field near Chawleigh last night which involved several exploding gas cylinders.
Fire crews from Barnstaple, Chulmleigh, Witheridge and North Tawton were called to the field along the B3042 road between Boxes Corner and Long Down shortly before midnight last night.
Fire and police crews are still on the scene and an investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing.
Station Manager Mark Sanders, who was in charge of the fire crews, said the fire involved four cars, two caravans and a large quantity of gas cylinders.
He said: "As soon as we arrived at the scene there was an explosion which caused stones and tyres to fly everywhere.
"Everywhere we looked there were more gas cylinders and there were a number of explosions during the three hours it took to control the fire.
"It was exciting but also very frightening at times.
"It was a big risk for us to extinguish this fire but I'm very happy to say that there are no injuries to report.
"The crews did a fantastic job in very dangerous conditions."
Fire service Group Commander Neil Blackburn said: "All the vehicles were destroyed, it was a very extensive fire.
"At the moment we cannot 100 per cent confirm that all the people have been accounted for.
"We are treating the cause of the fire as suspicious and we have not ruled out arson.
"A fire investigation team is still at the scene."
Police and ambulance crews also attended as a precaution and Western Power were called to isolate electricity to the site.
