Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Fire shop evacuated
Customers and staff flee from blaze behind store
A BUSINESS owner has been left “shaken” after having to evacuate staff and customers when a blaze broke out behind her shop.
Firefighters were called to Dura Street after a plastic bin caught alight behind Forte’s Café, clothing boutique Room 39 and hairdresser Head First at Room 39.
Business owner Wendy Sturrock, 39, said she began smelling smoke and took the action to evacuate the premises.
The incident, which is the second fire in as many months to have happened behind the shop, has left her “frustrated” as appointments had to be rearranged for customers.
She said: “Firstly I’m relieved no one was injured.
“The whole thing could have been a lot worse.
“We smelled the smoke but we weren’t sure what business it was coming from.
“When I went around the back where the waste is kept, the bin was well alight.
“It had been quite a dry day so one of my major concerns was that it could catch onto other items which were nearby.
“It was a black wheelie like you would have at your house so it wasn’t one of the business metal bins — the bin was destroyed.
“We had clients in who were getting messages and I thought I’m not taking any chances so we evacuated all the premises.
“With all the equipment we’ve got here it could have been really serious.”
Wendy, whose family has had premises in the area for more than 30 years, said she had been having a “nightmare” with kids smoking around the back.
She said: “There has been youngsters using the area to smoke cigarettes and that is a frustration.
“The responsibility will now lie with us to have the area cleaned up.”
Fire crews were in the same location last November after a mattress caught fire directly behind the business.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service confirmed a crew had attended to tackle a wheelie bin fire.
She said: “One fire crew attended from the Kingsway and used one hose reel jet to extinguish the fire.”