A deliberate fire involving two caravans near Tesco in Glastonbury forced the supermarket to be evacuated on Saturday night, 13 June, after crews were called to Wirral Park Road at 8.07pm. Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said the blaze was started deliberately, and Tesco later said its Glastonbury store had reopened.
The fire cut straight into an ordinary evening at the store. Fire crews moved in after multiple reports of a caravan on fire near Tesco, and the response quickly grew to include two more fire engines. No casualties were reported, but the evacuation meant staff had to clear the supermarket before firefighters could get the blaze under control.
That mattered because the fire did not stay with the caravans. It was close enough to the supermarket for crews to focus on stopping it from spreading further, and the fire service said they were able to prevent extensive damage to the store. The incident was brought under control at 10.40pm and the fire was fully extinguished later that night.
More crews were sent from Glastonbury, Street, Wells, Somerton, Shepton Mallet and Bridgwater, with thermal imaging cameras and positive pressure ventilation fans used at the scene. That shows how quickly the response escalated once the reports came in, even though the final result was no injuries and a store that was back in business later.
The open question is not what happened at the supermarket. It is who deliberately set the fire and why. For now, the facts point to a fire service that contained the damage, a Tesco store that has reopened, and a police inquiry that has not yet been answered in public.
