Man, 39, missing as house ‘blown to pieces by explosion’
FEARS were growing last night for a man who has been missing since his house was destroyed in a raging inferno.
John McGuigan, 39, has not been since an ‘explosion’ ripped through his house in Airdrie, Lanarkshire, in the early hours of yesterday morning.
Flames tore through the detached property as six fire engines raced to the scene at 3am, with part of the house collapsing in the devastating blaze.
The fire was so ferocious that eight neighbouring homes had to be evacuated, as thick black smoke and flames billowed into the sky.
Mr McGuigan, who is believed to have lived alone at the property in the town’s Ewart Drive, had still not been accounted for last night and he has not responded to desperate pleas for him to get in touch.
Distressed relatives and friends yesterday gathered at a police cordon, anxiously waiting for news or any sightings of him.
An upset family member, who did not wish to be named, said: ‘John is missing. We have not heard from him at all, and we can’t get in touch with him.’
Yesterday, workers were seen among the charred remains of the building, attempting to make it safe for police and fire investigators to enter and search the property.
One eyewitness said there had been a sound ‘like an explosion’ and then the building was engulfed quickly in ferocious flames before being ‘obliterated’.
Just a few walls of the two-storey house remain, with the roof completely destroyed. The cause of the blaze was unknown last night.
Mr McGuigan has failed to respond to all attempts to contact him via social media.
Friends have left a series of concerned messages on his Facebook page, with some referring to him by his nickname ‘Bulb’ and pleading with him to get in touch. One wrote: ‘Please get in touch with someone, anyone! We just want to know you are safe.’
Another left a message saying: ‘Please, please, please get in touch with someone, anyone, even if you just need some space, please, just reach out. We are all worried sick!’
Friend Maggie Lawson shared a post online pleading for information on his whereabouts.
It said: ‘If anyone knows where John McGuigan (Bulb) is please get in touch Asap. Everyone in Airdrie is worried sick about him.’ And
George Wylie commented: ‘Reach out big guy... to anyone... I hope you’re safe.’
Yesterday, a Police Scotland spokesman said they could not comment on whether or not there had been an explosion. He added: ‘Police and emergency services were called to a report of a fire within a detached house. Emergency services remain at the scene and our enquiries are continuing.
‘The occupants of eight nearby houses were evacuated at the time as a precaution, however, four have since been allowed to return.
‘The others remain with family and friends.’
A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesman added: ‘We were alerted at 3.08am on Saturday, June 27, to reports of a dwelling fire.
‘Operations control mobilised six appliances and a number of special resources to Ewart Drive in Airdrie. Firefighters extinguished the blaze. The building has suffered a partial collapse and SFRS remains on the scene.’
‘Please, please, get in touch with someone’