Southampton FC fan rushed to save games room in shock blaze

Ian Black, 52, has been left in shock after a fire that destroyed his neighbour's shed partially damaged his painstakingly-created games room.

Firefighters were called to Bishops Road, Itchen, at around 12.30pm on Friday after an explosion was heard and a blaze ripped through a shed.

Outside Ian's game's room which sustained some damage from the fire (Image: Newsquest)

One shed was destroyed - with Ian’s games room partially damaged.

Speaking to the Echo, the 52-year-old said: “I was watching TV, and I heard a massive bang coming from outside.

“Something had exploded and when I saw through the window, I could see flames coming out of the shed next door. It all happened very quickly.”

Ian rushed to alert his next-door neighbours, before attempting to put the fire out using his garden hose.

He added: “I did try to get the hose so that the fire didn’t spread any further, but it was quite useless as only a bit of water was coming out.”

Constructed in a former portable office, his Saints-themed games room features a bar, pool table, nine shirts and an assortment of memorabilia associated with Southampton FC.

The outside sustained significant damage but fortunately, the interior was spared.

The shed up in flames (Image: Wayne John)

Fortunately, firefighters quickly arrived at the scene and took over the situation.

Incident commander Steve Sapp said crews from St Mary's Fire Station worked to quickly put out the blaze.

No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is not known.

Inside Ian's game's room (Image: Newsquest)Speaking about his beloved games room, former factory worker Ian said: “It’s very damaged and we’re going to have to fix this, the firefighters said we were quite lucky because had the wind been blowing in our direction then the games room would not have survived.

“To think about that, you see the damage it caused to that shed, I can only imagine what it would have been if it was ours."

“We got quite lucky in that regard.”