Fire destroys miners’ club

Jun 30 2011 by Marjorie Kerr, West Lothian Courier

fire

A LANDMARK building has been destroyed after it was gutted by a massive blaze.

Over 50 firefighters from across the Lothians battled for around 13 hours to put out the flames at Whitburn Miners’ Club on Monday.

And the plume of smoke could be seen for miles as fire ripped through the building.

The alarm was raised shortly before 5am when a passer-by saw smoke coming from the building on West Main Street in Whitburn.

And firefighters from Whitburn, Bathgate, Livingston, Newcraighall, Liberton, Sighthill and Crewe Toll, were all involved in battling the flames.

However, they were forced to work outside the building after concerns were raised about the safety of the structure.

A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service said: “Firefighters raced to the scene and discovered the building well alight.

“No one was in the building when the fire was discovered and a full investigation will take place to establish the cause of the blaze.”

Residents of nearby Hanover Court sheltered housing complex were evacuated on Monday morning.

And the blaze was finally brought under control on Monday evening and the building has been partially demolished after parts of it were ruled to be unsafe.

Morag Archibald, of the club’s committee, said she was very upset by the loss of the club which has seen some of the world’s biggest music stars, including The Kinks and Black Sabbath, play there.

She said: “I’ve only been involved with the committee since February but I’m absolutely gutted.

“The club have always been very community orientated and I’m really sad that the building is gone.

“This was really the last link that Whitburn had with the miners.

“At this point we don’t know what the way forward will be. We will need to have a committee meeting and try to decide where we go from here.”

Whitburn residents have also spoken of their shock at the fire.

One woman, who worked at the club, but asked not to be named said she was shocked when she heard about the fire.

She said: “This really is a big loss to the community. Everybody went there for a night out and this will mean a lot of people have lost their jobs.”

Another woman said she had been caught in the disruption caused by the closure of West Main Street.

She said: “I got the bus in from Blackburn but the buses were all being diverted away from here.”