Major fire in building
Police not treating incident as suspicious
A large scale fire destroyed a derelict building in Larkhall on Monday afternoon.
The fire ripped through the building, which lies close to Larkhall Congregational Church in Machan Avenue, at 2.20pm.
More than 20 firefighters tackled the blaze.
The junction at Machan Road and Main Street was closed for a period of time.
A derelict building in Larkhall has been demolished following a large scale fire in the town on Monday afternoon.
The fire ripped through the building, which lies close to Larkhall Congregational Church on Machan Avenue, at around 2.20pm.
More than 20 firefighters tackled the blaze as fears grew that the fire would spread to the nearby church.
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said when they arrived on the scene the fire was well developed and firefighters quickly got to work with main jets to stop the fire spreading to the church building.
Due to the smoke the junction at Machan Road and Main Street was closed for a period of time.
An additional high-reach appliance attended the incident to increase the firefighting capability.
Firefighters successfully stopped the fire from spreading and affecting the church.
Station manager Craig Carenduff, the incident commander, commended the efforts of the crews who worked tirelessly to bring the fire under control.
He said: “Our crews were presented with a significant fire and approximately 25 firefighters effectively tackled the blaze.
“Through a co-ordinated response SFRS crews succeeded in stopping the fire spreading to the adjacent building.”
Due to the fire damage, South Lanarkshire Building Control officers attended the scene to offer support. SFRS crews left the incident at 7.40pm with the exact cause of the fire at this stage yet to be determined.
Sam Butler, who lives close to the site, said: “The flames were bursting through the roof of the building. I usually can see the steeple of St Machan’s Parish Church from my house but it was completely covered with the smoke. I do a lot of work at that church and headed down just to see if everything was okay.”
Another witness said: “I was driving along Larkhall’s Main Street and the place was thick with smoke, it was hard to see what was in front of me.”
South Lanarkshire Council’s building control this week confirmed the building was demolished.
The local authority’s head of Planning and Economic Development, Pauline Elliott, said: “An officer from Building Control visited the site of the fire on Monday afternoon and found the roof and mid-floor of the building almost completely destroyed, due to the extent of the damage the remaining structure was unsafe and the owner agreed to carry out the necessary demolition work which was completed on Monday. The site has now been fenced off to prevent unauthorised entry.”
Police are not treating the fire as suspicious.