Fire broke out in a tipper truck driving through Modbury earlier this afternoon.

The blaze is thought to have been caused by the lithium batteries from discarded vapes.

vape
Vape box instructions (james gordon)

The van was owned by James Gordon of Leaf It Out Waste Management.

James’s Personal Assistant Jess Rigby said: “My colleague Max Gillard had been collecting the bins from the holiday lets and properties that we service when suddenly he noticed flames coming from the back of the pick up. He quickly stopped the van and parked it in such a way way as to minimise the chance of it spreading to the cab then called the fire service.

This happened around 12.45pm. The fire service got here from Kingsbridge in just nine minutes and quickly extinguished the fire.”

vape pens
Burnt Vape Pens (leaf it out )

Jess explained: “We did have a notice saying lithium batteries should not be discarded in the bins but will now specifically mention vapes following the incident. A £5 vape pen has ending out causing thousands of pounds worth of damage.”

Luckily both Max and the Dog escaped unscathed, but it could have been a very different story.