A fire broke out at a York petrol station last night (Thursday).
Firefighters were called to Inner Space Stations on Hull Road at about 5.15pm.
Staff first realised something was wrong when the electrics went down.
Graham Kennedy, the owner of Inner Space Stations, told YorkMix: “In the interim, something else went wrong. We don’t know for sure, but possibly there was a surge into the sub-fuse board and our jet washer.
“We couldn’t see it until the jet washers went down, and all of a sudden, smoke was coming out of the jet wash room.
“At that point, the assistant manager evacuated the site and called the fire brigade.
“They came really quickly within, I think, seven minutes, smashed the door down of the jet wash room which was locked.
“And it was dreadful, because the fuse board completely burned out the room. So if it wasn’t for the quick action of the fire service and my manager, it could have been a major fire.”
He said the firefighters extinguished the fire before it spread to a store room next door.
With it being a petrol station, “it could have been disastrous,” Graham said.
No one was hurt and the damage was restricted to the jet washers. The site was reopened at 8.16pm.
Graham said: “It’s too early in the day to figure out exactly what went wrong. But it seems likely that something fused for the jet washers.”
Now he is left to count the cost of the fire.
“Financially, it’s a disaster. It could be a complete rebuild.”
The Inner Space Station’s five jet washers, which also have vacuums and air pressure machines for car tyres, were bespoke made by a German manufacturer. To replace them all could cost up to £100,000, he said.
It comes less than three weeks since Graham released video footage of a thief who caused £2,500 damage to the shop, which he said was being “plagued” by petty shop theft.
The person in that video has been identified, but had not been arrested at the time of publication.