3,000 left without power after fire hits scrapyard
A fire at a car scrapyard in Glasgow left about 3,000 homes without power on Sunday evening.
Police and fire crews were called to the blaze in the Govan area of the city at about 4.30pm on Sunday.
The fire ripped through Japanese Autoparts on Helen Street, near Ibrox Stadium, sources said.
More than 50 firefighters were tackling the fire with 12 appliances in attendance.
No injuries have been reported and emergency crews were working through the night to bring the blaze under control.
Fire chiefs said a number of tyres and vehicles in the scrapyard were on fire and an electricity substation was on one side of the building.
Scottish Power confirmed on Sunday evening that one of its buildings was involved in the fire and power had to be shut off to 3,000 properties in the Govan area as a precaution while fire crews assessed the damage.
A text message was sent to customers in the area saying: "It has been necessary for us to remove power in your local area to make emergency repairs to fire damage at Govan grid supply point.
"Our emergency response team have arrived onsite and are working with the fire and rescue service to restore supplies.
"The supply to your property may be affected by this work and we intend to have your supply restored by 3am.
"Please unplug all electrical equipment if it is safe to do so and switch off any gas or oil central heating systems."
Power was restored to customers at 9.50pm, Scottish Power said.
Speaking to Press Association Scotland from the scene, deputy assistant chief officer Peter Heath, from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, said: "At the moment we still have a significant attendance at this fire.
"We have 12 pumping appliances, four height appliances and a high-volume pump which is designed to deliver large volumes of water to the scene.
"Firefighters are currently engaged in a fire that has engulfed a building which is approximately 100 metres by 40 metres with a large yard in the back full of tyres which have been involved in the fire.
"We have been applying water for some time and key priority for us at the moment is firefighter safety.
"At one side of the building that is on fire is an electrical sub-station which supplies a significant part of Glasgow and Govan area and at the other side there is a large storage facility.
"Our activity in the last few hours has been ensuring that we protect these and we have been successful in that to date.
"Scottish Power advised that they had about 3,000 customers that had lost power.
"They are on the scene and they are working exceptionally hard along with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and other partners to minimise the impact on the local community.
"But with such a significant event and incident between the smoke, the fire and of course the impact on the electricity system, regrettably it has resulted in a short outage for some of them."
Dramatic pictures were posted by residents on social media showing dark plumes of smoke billowing high above the city.
One picture apparently showed smoke visible from the Isle of Arran, more than 50 miles away.
