Massive blaze cost £20,000

Eric Baxter • Published 18 May 2010 14:00

THE massive blaze at a former Port Glasgow garage cost almost £20,000 to tackle.

Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Group Commander, Richie Duncan, said it was already a very serious incident when the firefighters got there late on Friday night.

He said: "There were huge resource implications for us."

The fire was at the former John McGhee garage in Ardgowan Street. It was emptied three weeks ago when the firm moved to Greenock.

Firefighters realised immediately that considerable resources were needed. A total of 45 firefighters from Port Glasgow and Greenock were summoned to bring it under control using five fire engines, a forward control unit and a support pump. Three senior officers were also there.

The blaze was reported at 11.45pm on Friday and brought under control at 2.20am on Saturday.

But Mr Duncan, right, said 70 to 80 firefighters were needed over the 12-hour period it took to finally extinguish the blaze, which was being fed by a ruptured industrial gas main.

Transco had to be brought in to cut off the gas.

The roof collapsed in the Ardgowan Street workshop, which was completely destroyed, but firefighters stopped the blaze spreading to the office building.

Mr Duncan said the bill for this blaze would have been in excess of £18,000.

Five engines were there for six hours and one for a further six.

He said: "It's impossible to say how much it will cost to investigate. Fire investigations depend on individual circumstances. Some can take hours and others can last for months."

In this case, Mr Duncan said the blaze in the empty building is being treated as 'suspicious'. The cause is not known yet. He added: "Every investigation is different, so it's not possible to generalise on how much they cost."

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This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 18 May 10

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