NI road now reopened after fire - residents allowed to return to homes

Earlier motorists were asked to avoid the area after a fire broke out at the rear of a property containing acetylene cylinders.

A post from TrafficwatchNI said: “The Scarva Road #Banbridge has been reopened following a house fire earlier this morning.”

Earlier a statement from the PSNI revealed that the Scarva Road, Banbridge is currently closed between Peggy’s Loaning and Grove Meadows.

It adds that this is “due to a fire in a shed at the rear of a property on the Scarva Road”.

It adds: “This shed contains acetylene cylinders and local residents have been evacuated as a precaution.

“Road users are asked to avoid the area and seek an alternative route.”

A Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service Spokesperson said: “On 20 January 2021 at around 3am, Firefighters were called to a fire involving 3 sheds on Hockley Terrace in Banbridge.

“Over the course of the incident, one Appliance each from Dromore and Lurgan Fire Stations and two Appliances from Banbridge Fire Station attended the incident. An Aerial Appliance from Portadown Fire Station, a water tanker from Warrenpoint Fire Station and a Command Support Unit from Lisburn Fire Station also attended the incident. Approximately 27 Firefighters were in attendance at the height of the incident.

“A cordon was established and local residents were evacuated for their own safety to Banbridge Leisure Centre as some of the sheds were used to store gas cylinders.

“This was a challenging incident and Firefighters worked well, with our partners, to make the area safe as quickly as possible. Firefighters wore breathing apparatus and used 2 jets, 2 hose reel jets and the water tower from the Aerial Appliance to extinguish the fire. The incident was dealt with by 9.09am and the cause of the fire is believed to have been deliberate ignition.”

____________________________________________________

A message from our editor: Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

Please consider purchasing a copy of the paper. You can also support trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription of the News Letter.