Car Salvage Firm Fined £40k Over Fireball Injury By Mike McCarthy, North of England Correspondent A car salvage company has been fined £40,000 plus £25,000 costs after a mechanic was engulfed in flames underneath a van. Lee Roberts, 33, was working in a vehicle inspection pit in Chorley, Lancashire, when he was set on fire. CCTV of the incident at Douglas Valley Breakers Ltd was played to a judge at Preston Crown Court. The company was prosecuted after a joint investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service discovered multiple health and safety failings. Mr Roberts said in a statement released by the HSE: "I still remember the noise of the petrol fumes igniting and a wave of blue flames engulfing the pit. They put me into an induced coma to stop the pain and it was at least a couple of days later when I came round. When I woke up, I could feel the pain immediately. Even now, more than three years later, I still suffer flashbacks that cause me to wake in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. The court heard that workers at the salvage firm used electric drills to puncture fuel tanks and an extension lead in the pit may have caused ignition. The company had no fire alarms or detectors and the fire became so bad that the building was eventually condemned. Lancashire Fire and Rescue treated the blaze as a major incident. After the sentencing, HSE Inspector David Myrtle said Mr Roberts was lucky to be alive. He said: "The company had the right equipment to do the job properly but instead it allowed workers to stand in a pit surrounded by fuel vapours where just one spark could start a fire." Douglas Valley Breakers - which pleaded guilty to five charges of breaching safety regulation - said it has taken steps to make sure a similar incident doesn't happen in the future.