HOMES EVACUATED AND TRAINS HALTED DUE TO LOCK-UP BLAZE

Firefighters tackle cylinder blast risk at Greenock incident

TWELVE people were evacuated from their homes and trains were halted in Greenock last night amid fears of an explosion during a fire in a lock-up garage in the town's Drumfrochar Road.

Firefighters attended the incident at 6.29pm,  and were confronted with a well-established blaze. After receiving reports that acetylene and oxygen cylinders were stored in the garage, creating the a risk of an explosion, the Incident Commander established a 50-metre exclusion zone, ordered the evacuation of 12 people from ten nearby properties and requested that trains on the Wemyss Bay to Glasgow line were halted.

The fire was quickly extinguished by firefighters using main jets. Firefighters then began cooling the affected cylinders to minimise the risk of explosion, and special Thermal Imaging Cameras were used to  monitor the cylinders during this operation.

Working with colleagues from Strathclyde Police and Network Rail, Strathclyde Fire & Rescue brought the incident to a safe conclusion at 11.14pm, with evacuated residents allowed to return home and trains restarted at this time.