Van blaze sparks terror at county filling station

Oct 9 2008 by Marjorie Kerr, West Lothian Courier

DRIVERS had to be evacuated from a West Lothian petrol station when a blaze broke out.

Emergency crews were called to Morrisons garage in Almondvale Road, Livingston, after a van caught fire and threatened to ignite the pumps.

Twenty-five fire officers dealt with the blaze which broke out around 3.50pm on Thursday, and brought the flames under control.

However, three other vehicles and the forecourt canopy were damaged by the flames.

Traffic at Adambrae Roundabout was diverted away from the area and petrol pumps were hosed to cool them down following the blaze.

No one was injured and police say the cause of the fire is being investigated.

An eye witness, who was shopping in the supermarket, said the blaze seemed to take hold quite quickly.

He said: “I came out of the shop and saw a bit of smoke and the next thing there was a bang and lots of flames.

“A lot of people were just trying to carry on putting their shopping in their cars, but most of us stopped to see what was going on because the road was closed and we couldn’t get out of the car park.”

A Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman said firefighters’ priority was to contain the fire.

She said: “The urgency and concern was due to the fire spreading to the petrol pumps.

“We received 12 calls about this fire and because we were on the scene within five minutes we were able to put out the fire out before it set the pumps alight.”

Morrisons said this week that safety is paramount and steps had been taken to protect everyone involved.

A Morrisons spokesperson said: "The safety of our customers and staff is always our top priority and we can confirm that nobody was hurt in the fire at our Livingston filling station.

“We would like to thank the fire service for their support on Thursday and since the event.

"The Livingston store is operating as normal, but the filling station remains closed."