Man raises alarm as potato factory destroyed
THE man who raised the alarm when a Garvagh potato factory went on fire was wakened from his sleep by the sound of the building's roof cracking.
Local barber Victor Gregg, who lives opposite the factory on the Carrowreagh Road, was wakened around 4am on Saturday morning by the noise of the blaze.
"It sounds silly but when I heard the noise I initially thought I had forgotten to put the cat out and it was trying to get out but when I saw a flickering on the window blinds, I got up and looked out the window," Victor told the Times yesterday (Monday).
"When I saw the size of the fire, I rang the Fire Brigade and said to them they would need to send about four fire engines.
"In the event I think they ended up sending about seven to deal with it.
"They must have poured thousands of gallons of water into that building because they were using four of those massive hoses that you have to anchor to the ground because you couldn't control them by hand.
"They were also running two lines out of the local river.
"There's accommodation and a canteen and offices in that building and when the Fire Brigade realised that there was about 20 or 30 tonnes of fertilizer, plus diesel and gas tanks inside and that the roof is asbestos, we were evacuated from the house.
"There are four houses near to the factory and we all had to leave but thankfully the wind was blowing away from the houses so we were never in any real danger.
"Everyone was able to get back into their houses around lunchtime on Saturday."
A keen amateur photographer, Victor was also on hand to capture the blaze on film.
"From a photographic point of view, each picture was better than the previous one as the fire was just getting bigger and bigger.
"But the main thing is that there was no one hurt and no one was put in any danger."
During the blaze householders in the area were asked to keep windows and doors closed.
John Allen from the NI Fire and Rescue Service said the blaze at the shed was complicated as the premises contained fertilizer, gas cylinders and diesel.
"That coupled with the fact that the shed was constructed of asbestos meant that there was an impact on some of the local residents," he added.
"Some of the residents were advised to evacuate their homes because the smoke that comes off from the burning of fertilizer is particularly toxic."
Local resident Beverly Galloway was one of those forced to leave her home, along with her husband and two young children.
She said: "It was unbelievable to see the flames so high and very sad to see the building go, I have never seen such a huge fire. We understood the dangers and were happy to evacuate for the sake of our children."
Police have confirmed they are treating the fire as suspicious.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Coleraine
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Heavy rain
Temperature: 5 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 32 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 9 C to 11 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South west
