Published: Thursday, 11th December, 2008 12:30pm

Blast-fear families evacuated

A GARAGE blaze sparked a 10-hour evacuation of nearby homes, as firefighters battled to avert an explosion.

Twenty-five families in Whitecraig Avenue, Whitecraig, were told to leave their homes last Friday when fire broke out in a private garage, containing highly flammable oxyacetylene cylinders, at about noon.

The occupant had been repairing a Ford Fiesta car in the garage when a stray spark caused a fuel spillage to catch fire, said Lothian and Borders Police.

Though the mechanic attempted to extinguish the fire, he was unsuccessful and emergency services were called to the scene.

Due to the presence of the gas cylinders, fire crews requested the assistance of police in evacuating neighbouring properties.

Though the fire was extinguished in approximately an hour, firefighters spent hours cooling the 'potentially explosive' gas cylinders using 'copious amounts of water', Paul Graham, East Lothian group manager, told the Courier.

A Lothian and Borders Police spokesman said: 'It was initially thought that the evacuation could last for a full 24 hours but luckily the fire services got the fire under control.'

Residents were able to return to their homes from 10.30pm, when firefighters ruled that there was no further danger.

An East Lothian Council spokeswoman said: 'Our Homeless Team attended the incident as part of our emergency response, to offer advice to residents and ascertain if any required overnight accomodation.

'While the majority of those affected were able to be accommodated by family and friends, we arranged temporary overnight accommodation for six families at the Premier Inn (Carberry Road, Inveresk).'

The Ford Fiesta was completely destroyed in the blaze, which also caused extensive damage to the garage.

Mr Graham warned: 'There seems to be have been more incidents recently involving fires in private garages and the presence of gas cylinders which of course can be extremely dangerous in a fire as there is the potential for a large-scale explosion.

'We would urge anyone who has to store oxyacetylene cylinders in their property to keep them near to an exit so that if fire breaks out, they can quickly and easily be removed.'