A potentially explosive fire saw more than 50 people were evacuated from their homes in Hurlford, as firefighters faced a major blaze in a commercial MOT garage in Galston Road – and police are calling for information into the ‘suspicious’ fire.

At around 6.40pm on Sunday 19^th February, crews from Mauchline and Newmilns were mobilised to the single-storey building on Hurlford’s Galston Road. Firefighters arriving at the scene were confronted by a well-alight building and, after finding that oxy-acetylene gas cylinders were inside the premises, quickly requested more resources.

As firefighters began tackling the blaze, partners from Strathclyde Police assisted in evacuating 50 nearby properties to a local community centre.

By around midnight, crews had the fire under control and could concentrate on cooling the acetylene cylinder and making the area safe. Firefighters used a series of 'wetting tests' throughout the night to ensure that the cylinder was cooling to a safe level and remained on-scene this morning to bring the incident to a safe conclusion.

Officers at Kilmarnock are continuing enquiries and appealing for witnesses following the blaze, and have issued an appeal for a suspect, described as white, 40-50 years old, 6ft tall and has a medium build.  He was wearing black gloves, a black/brown leather jacket and navy-blue jeans. This man was seen in the area shortly before the fire.

Fortunately, no-one was injured as a result of the fire, but, police are treating the blaze as wilful. Officers are appealing to anyone with any information on this incident - or who may have seen someone acting suspiciously in the area shortly before the fire started - to come forward. 

A local police spokesman said: “The response from the public has been excellent so far and we know that there were a number of people in the local area at this time and I would appeal for anyone who saw anything suspicious to contact us.  I believe that the person responsible was local and that someone in the local community knows who is responsible.”

Kilmarnock Police Office can be contacted on 01563 505000. Alternatively call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, where anonymity can be maintained.

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