Wastewater engineers turn to fire fighting to save coffee shop

Two wastewater engineers from Lanes Group plc have been praised by firefighters after they put out a fire outside coffee shop with their jetting hose.

Fire chiefs at Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service said their quick action prevented what would probably have been a serious blaze.

Dan Edwards and Andy Heath had been responding to a sewer blockage in Hitchen on behalf of Anglian Water when they spotted the fire in the early hours of the morning.

Rubbish bags piled out outside Starbucks in the town centre were in flames.

They pulled over in their jet vac tanker, which can carry 12,000 litres of water, called 999 to alert the fire service, and set about putting out the flames.

Dan said: “Fortunately, we had some water in our tank. I jumped out and grabbed our half-inch jetting hose, while Andy worked the controls on the lorry for the high-pressure water.

“The flames were 10 feet high. It took us five minutes to put the fire out. Just as we’d done it, the fire service arrived and told us we probably saved the building.”

The fire had been hot enough to cause the toughened coffee shop window to shatter. In a few minutes, the flames could have spread inside.

Andy Heath said: “There was a light on in a window above the coffee shop, so we were worried that there was someone was up there.

“When the firefighters arrived, they broke in straight away to see if the building was occupied but they found it was empty.”

Hitchin Fire Station watch commander Mark Burgess told the local paper: “The Lanes team did an outstanding job.

“They knocked the fire down before we got there. If the fire had taken hold of the building it could have been a lot more severe.”

Dan and Andy, who work at the Lanes Anglian Water utility hub, at St Neots, in Cambridgeshire, had only been passing the coffee shop by chance.

They had been waiting for a second crew to arrive to help them clear the sewer blockage and had been looking for somewhere for a meal break.

It is not the first time Dan and Andy have responded to an emergency.

Earlier this month, they came across a car that had broken down on the A421 near Buckingham. They parked their jet vac tanker to protect the vehicle and alert other road users while waiting for a roadside recovery vehicle to arrive.

Lanes Anglian Water Contract Manager Mark Williams said: “Dan and Andy did a great job by reacting promptly to help both the stranded driver and fight the fire.

“Our wastewater engineers are trained to assess risk, manage situations safely, and provide first aid if necessary. Their skills make them perfect people to have around in an emergency.”