Garage fire sees properties evacuated amid blast fears

MORE than 20 residents had to be removed from their homes in South Queensferry after a fire broke out at a garage which contained a potentially explosive gas cylinder.

A 200-metre exclusion zone was set up following the blaze at Hawes Garage on Newhalls Road yesterday after the highly explosive acetylene cylinder was discovered.

Around 20 residents were removed from nearby homes and placed in emergency accommodation by the council, while all guests staying at the Hawes Inn on Newhalls Road were also evacuated. The pub was closed for the night.

Police and firefighters maintained a presence in the area overnight, and this morning a firefighting crew was still cooling the cylinder with hose reels, with work expected to continue into the afternoon.

A 17-year-old boy suffered minor burns to his arm in the fire, which broke out at around 4.30pm, but did not require hospital treatment.

A police spokesman said: "It was not a major fire and it was very quickly extinguished, but the firefighters found an acetylene cylinder within the garage. The standard procedure is to put a 200m exclusion zone in place in case anything happened to the cylinder because of the heat it was exposed to. Acetylene is very volatile."

He added: "The railway line is within the 200m exclusion zone."

A spokesman for Scotrail confirmed that it had been made aware of the fire, but said the company was not aware of any disruption to services.

Newhalls Road was closed overnight and diversions were put in place, with Lothian and Borders Police set to review the situation today.

Two fire appliances attended the scene, with one appliance remaining overnight to cool the cylinder.

A spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said: "We attended Hawes Garage at 5.20pm after receiving a call from the fire service. A 17-year-old male suffered minor burns but did not go to hospital."

A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service added: "We have to set up an exclusion zone when acetylene cylinders are involved, and that exclusion zone went over the east coast main railway line."