HALIFAX – A friend of a man seriously injured in a fire at a Westphal mechanic shop describes the scene as frantic and hectic.
Joseph Spence was working at Dartmouth Auto Auction on Highway 7 Friday afternoon when fire suddenly broke out.
Spence says the victim, who he identifies as Peter, was working on the gas tank of a vehicle when the blaze erupted.
“He must have hit a gas line. It caught fire and I presume the gas must have sprayed him,” he said.
Spence and the owner of the business grabbed the man and pulled him away from the raging inferno.
“It burned all his clothes off. We moved him to the side of the building to get away from the fire,” Spence said.
“I kept the hose on him. He kept wanting water put over him. I was just trying to keep him coherent and as comfortable as best as I could.”
Spence says the victim, who he describes as soft spoken and having a big heart, was quite coherent.
“He knew what time it was, what day it was. For that amount of burns, he must be a strong guy,” he said.
The victim was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. Spence says he’s hoping his friend pulls through.
“I was afraid and I’m still not quite sure.”
Division commander Chuck Bezanson with Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency says the blaze at the mechanic shop, which had other vehicles sitting out front, was a dangerous scene for firefighters.
“It’s always the unknown, especially congested areas like that present a lot of hazards that are unknown,” he said.
“We have to proceed with all due caution.”
Bezanson says the cause of the fire is still unknown but suspects it will be written down as accidental.
“Most likely the gentleman who was injured at the scene made a mistake or something happened during his work procedure,” he said while stressing caution when dealing or working with flammable objects.
Meanwhile for Spence, he is still trying to shake the graphic and vivid scene from his head.
“I think it’s something that’s going to keep me awake tonight.”
RCMP have handed the investigation over to the Nova Scotia Department of Labour, who were on scene Friday night but declined to comment.
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