Homes were evacuated after a fire broke out at a Luton workshop where cylinders containing oxygen, propane and acetylene were stored.
People living on Westbourne Road, Selbourne Road and Leagrave Road were told to leave their homes as firefighters continued to tackle the fire and cool the cylinders.
The fire began at the workshop on Leagrave Road at around 11.30am this morning at a motor repair workshop when a man was burning waste in a large metal dustbin.
An ember landed on the cover of a motorbike, which caught fire and partly destroyed both the bike and a nearby van.
When fire crews arrived, they saw three acetylene cylinders that were old and had not been used, which meant firefighters had to identify they had not been overheated by the fire.
Neil Thompson, of Beds Fire and Rescue Service, said: “If you have any old cylinders stored at industrial premises the best thing to do is to dispose of them appropriately and get them off the site because if these cylinders had overheated today’s incident could have been a lot more serious.”
The situation was under control by 2.30pm this afternoon.
> Were you affected by the fire? Get in touch amanda.devlin@jpress.co.uk or @LBOamanda