UPDATE: 18 caravans destroyed by fire and explosions on Avondale Road, Cwmbran

Mrs Emma Shand, 31, of Cwmbran, submitted a video to The Argus of the devastated Cwmbran caravan site.

A caravan owned by Mrs Shand and her husband suffered cosmetic damage from the blaze, including warped windows.

She said: “On the left hand of the site all that is left black shells resembling (caravan) chassis.

“I did see a lady and she was trying to come back out (the site) and she had been affected and was very upset.

“She told me that someone had bought a caravan a week ago and it was one of the ones that had gone up completely.”

She added: “I know they’re just caravans but you work hard to pay for them and peoples holidays have been taken away from them.

“We are grateful and very lucky and we feel sorry for everyone else who has been affected.”

UPDATE: 1.34pm

Pictures from Lisa Phillips-White showing the devastation at the caravan storage site:

UPDATE: 12.58pm

Station Properties Caravan Storage have released this statement following the fire:

"We are experiencing a high number of calls and office visits from owners and concerned relatives over the state of their vehicles.

"The fire service left the site at around 4.10am this morning after the fire and we were here at that time as well, before opening at 8.45am to handle calls and visitors to the office.

"We are trying our best to answer all the queries they people have may have after the fire."

UPDATE: 11.50am

Pictures showing the devastation at the caravan storage site:

UPDATE: 10.55am

Office manager at Station Properties Caravan Storage, Joanne Nott, said: “The cause of the fire is deemed to be electrical, and the police and fire service are happy that it started by accident.”

“The fire service will be returning to the site to help dispose of a number of gas canisters which were located close to the fire.

“There are 18 caravans which are totally gone and were destroyed in the fire. All that is left are the chassis of the burned out vehicles. There are a further 14 vehicles which have some level of damage to them, mostly from heat and smoke.”

The damaged vehicles are at the top end of the compound close to the railway line, although the fire service has also ruled out a spark from the line or a train as being the cause.”

“The police have reviewed our CCTV footage, which shows that there were no people inside the perimeter gates from 7.15pm last night.”

UPDATE: 10.35am

Firefighters returned to the scene this morning to investigate the causes of the blaze and to arrange for gas cylinders to be removed.

UPDATE: 8.40am

The fire was at the Station Properties Caravan Storage on Station Road. Owners of caravans have arrived to see if their caravans have survived and cars and vans are queuing up outside the site.

UPDATE: 8.11am

They added the fire, which is being treated as "accidental" involved "a large quantity" of gas cylinders.

Fire crews will return to the scene this morning to check the scene and to arrange the collection of 40-50 gas cylinders.

UPDATE: 8.04am

South Wales Fire and Rescue service says 18 caravans were destroyed and 13 others damaged in a fire this morning in Cwmbran.

UPDATE: 7.51am

Resident Gareth Bodham, says the blasts "rocked" his flat, which is 500 yards from the site of the fire overlooking Avondale Road.

He said he heard a loud blast which "sounded like thunder" at around 12.30am this morning and that the blasts continued coming from the caravan site. 

Mr Bodham said he went in to the street as the fire continued to burn. He said a police officer at the scene told him they were gas cylinders exploding.

UPDATE: 7.39am

EXPLOSIONS and a fire were heard and seen by eyewitnesses in Cwmbran in the early hours of this morning, which lasted for nearly three hours.

A spokeswoman from the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said firefighters from Cwmbran, New Inn, Duffryn and Aberbargoed attended the call at just after 12.50am.

She added that the fire was located on Avondale Road and was extinguished at just after 3.10am.

Eyewitness David Daniels said: "Around 1am, I heard loud explosions, and I could see an orange glow from the other side of the road from my flat.

There didn't seem to be any sign of a fire engine, so I decided to take a closer look. I rang the fire service to be sure, and as it turns out several other people had already called."

"The explosions continued right into the early hours of the morning - some of which were incredibly loud. Friends from Croesyceiliog messaged me to say they'd been woken up by the sound of the fire," he added.

UPDATE: 6.54am

EXPLOSIONS and a fire were heard and seen by eyewitnesses in Cwmbran in the early hours of this morning.

The fire, which was located in the Avondale Road area, is believed to have started at around 1am this morning (Wednesday) with explosions heard around 30 minutes later.

Fire crews were on the scene tackling the blaze.