Shed saves five-ton motorhome from disaster

Mar 22 2008 by Lisa Jones, South Wales Echo

Shed saves five-ton motorhome from disaster

A FIVE-TON motorhome was saved from plunging off the end of its owners’ drive by a garden shed below.

Fire crews were called in to winch the 25 to 30 foot long Fiat vehicle from its precariously balanced position next to a house on the Taff Vale Estate, Edwardsville, Treharris, at around 10.30am yesterday.

The narrow road in the estate had to be closed for more than two hours for South Wales Fire Service specialist vehicles to manoeuvre the motorhome back onto its concrete hard-standing.

Crew manager Tony Ryder, from Merthyr Tydfil Fire Station, said: “The drive was built up so much, it was well above the ground level of the garden.

“The vehicle rolled back on its hard-standing, which is on a slight incline.

“Four of its six wheels were off the floor, suspended in the air.

“The structure of the shed was stopping it from going anywhere.”

Fifteen firefighters from Merthyr, Treharris and Pontypridd used high and low pressure air bags underneath the motor home to jack the two-year-old vehicle up, so that it could be winched back onto the driveway.

Mr Ryder added: “When we started to pull the motorhome up, it began to drift and started to hit the garage. So we used the air bags to bring it under control.

“It was a very unusual call out.”

The vehicle was rescued with little more than a damaged wing mirror.

The shed was destroyed.