‘Thank God we are all alive and we all escaped’ says garage boss after Hatfield fire

Kat Loo, owner of Kitkat Autos (Image: Archant)

The blaze took hold at KitKat Autos in Fiddlebridge Lane, Hatfield on Wednesday, June 1.

Kat Loo, owner of Kitkat Autos, said: “We were doing some work, then all of a sudden we saw fire and tried to put it out with three fire extinguishers. But as soon as we realised it was impossible, we quickly turned the main power off and just ran.”

The situation’s severity typified by a man who approached him and said “It’s good to see you alive.”

Mr Loo, who lives in Hatfield and has two children, has owned the garage for two years. He confirmed including him there were four garage workers present at the time, but none were injured.

Terri Stammers (Image: Archant)

He added: “I’m thankful to everyone and the firemen, and sorry to the neighbours and sorry to the customers, because I also have three cars in there. For me the only thing I would say is thank God we are all alive and we all escaped.”

Jackie Radford, of Stockbreach Road, said: “I just saw clouds of black smoke going across the top and thought it might be the flats again. There were one or two fire engines already here. When I got here they had already started.”

Terri Stammers, 29, who lives in Fiddlebridge Lane and has a seven-year-old son, said: “I was sitting in my living room and I heard a loud pop so I rushed to the window.

“I heard men shouting. They all came running out and a big puff of smoke was coming from the garage.

“My boy was scared and he was crying. We live right opposite the garage. We saw flames come up the roof and all the roof was caved in.

“There was a white car parked outside and that was on fire too. The police came up and a policeman banged on my door and said to close the windows and stay away from the windows and doors.

“They had evacuated the ground floor, and he said we might have to leave but we didn’t. The police were asking people who were leaving the building where they were going.”