Deep fat fryer blaze at chippy
NICOLA FINDLAY
The owners of a Village chip shop say they are “devastated” after a blaze ripped through their premises.
Firefighters raced to The Silver Fin on Thursday when a deep fat fryer caught alight just before 7pm.
Four fire engines attended and police closed off part of the Village Main Street at Stuart Street as smoke billowed out from the popular chippie.
Now the owners of the Silver Fin have taken to Facebook to thank locals for their support, but say the shop will remain closed for the time being as it has been “very badly damaged”.
They also revealed that staff bravely tried to battle the flames before being overpowered by the flames.
The post reads: “We would like to give you a little update on our horrendous situation, as most of you are probably aware we had a fire in our shop, unfortunately the shop is very badly damaged and it will take us a bit of time to get things up and running again.
“As everyone can imagine we are extremely devastated.
“We would like to thank all staff and customers who helped to try and deter the fire, unfortunately it was too strong for us to deal with.
“We have received lots of support and for this we are all extremely grateful.
“We are so thankful that no one was injured and we have to thank the fire and police service for all their hard work.
“Updates will be posted as we progress in trying to get the business up and running again and as always thank you to all of our customers and staff for all of your support.
“We would appreciate that no negative comments are left on the [Facebook] page and we would appreciate a lot of positivity to help us all recover from this and get the shop up and running again. Thank you all so much.”
Staff were also evacuated from Marmaris Indian Takeaway next door.
A worker from the restaurant told the News that others shop owners are relieved the fire didn’t spread to adjoining units.
“I think my boss feels very lucky today. What if the fire had spread to here and then on to the other shops?”, he asked.
“I had just left and one of the girls who was working messaged and said the chip shop next door was on fire.
“They were all evacuated and then the emergency services arrived.
“I think the owner of the chip shop may have also came in here to get another fire extinguisher from us too.
“It could have been a lot worse but at least everyone was OK .”
A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said:
“We were alerted at 6.49pm on Thursday, February 27 to reports of a fire at a business premises on Stuart Street, East Kilbride.
“Four fire appliances were mobilised to the scene, and crews extinguished a fire involving a deep fat fryer.
“They also ensured there was no fire spread, and thereafter ventilated the premises.
“There were no reported casualties. The last appliance left the scene at 10.14pm.”