A FURNESS family was forced to flee its home after a fire at a nearby workshop nearly engulfed their bungalow.

Fire crews took nearly five hours to contain the blaze which broke out at 6pm on Saturday at the Old Sawmills industrial estate on Pennington Lane, Lindal-in-Furness.

Flames as high as 20 feet shot into the air after sparks hit petrol cans and fibreglass stored in the building, owned by Rowland Saunders.

Father-of-two Robert Long said: “There was a huge bang and the flames just flew into the sky – just 30ft from my house.

“I’ve got a 17-week-old baby boy so I just shouted to my son’s girlfriend to get into the car and I drove them up the lane to safety.

“The smoke was so thick I was driving for 500 metres without a clue if I was going straight. It was the most dangerous experience of my life.”

His 17-year-old son Jack called 999 after spotting the fire with his friend who had been in the work-shop fixing a car.

“It was just ferocious,” said Mr Long, a driver for Mr Saunders.

“I then started to panic about my horses in stables next door but thankfully Jack had managed to get them through all the smoke and into a field.

“All I could do after that was just watch the fire and pray it didn’t spread any further.”

Tools worth thousands of pounds belonging to Tony Hindmarch, a Snap-on salesman who rents the building, were destroyed.

Three classic cars, two Ford Escorts and a Metro, owned by local amateur rally drivers were also burned to their shells.

Mr Hindmarch said: “The cars aren’t worth that much, but they are really special to their owners so they are very upset.

“This is a major blow but it won’t finish my business, I’ve got insurance and will carry on.”

Watch manager Mark Ducie said the two fire engines from Barrow and one from Dalton fought a ‘defensive battle’ from the outside the building, which was too dang-erous to enter.

He confirmed the fire was started accidentally, although the exact cause is under investigation.

“We don’t exactly know how it started but the youths did have permission to be in the building,” he said.

Mr Saunders said he was saddened by the fire after recently investing £30,000 in a new metal roof which he hoped would last at least 50 years.