Fire in former Ayrshire church hall

25 Firefighters were engaged tonight in bringing a blaze in a former church hall, in the Ayrshire town of Maybole, under control.

Fire crews from Maybole and Ayr Community Fire Stations were mobilsed to the scene in the town's Cassillis Road tonight shortly before 9:45 p.m. On arrival the crews had to contend with a well developped fire within the rear section of the church hall roof space.

The initial incident commander commited fire crews,donned in breathing apparatus, to tackle the blaze and contain the fire within the immediate area of the traditional stone built building prior to requesting further supporting resources to attend the incident.

The fire ws brought under control using a combination of main jets and employing an aerial monitor from an attending Aerial Rescue Pump. The incident commander also employed Positive Pressure Ventilating tactics to ensure that the fire did not spread beyond the church hall and involve the adjacent main church building, the former St Cuthberts Church.

Strathclyde Fire & Rescue were assisted by the police who dealt with traffic management in the immediate vicinty of the fire and reresentatives from Scottish Power who isolated electrical supplies to the affected buildings.

There will be a Fire Service presence at the scene throughout the night and the cause of the fire will be the subject of a joint Police and Fire Service investigation. There are, thankfully, no reported casualties or injuries associated with this incident.

There is no further information available at this time.