Probe into NHS supply depot blaze

Firefighters battle the blaze at the NHS depot Enlarge Image

Investigations are under way into the cause of a fire which gutted an NHS storage building in East Kilbride.

Strathclyde Fire and Rescue said the alarm was raised at 0545 GMT and that dozens of firefighters had tackled the blaze at the store on Glendevon Road.

Concerns have been raised that valuable medical supplies for hospitals in Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway may have been destroyed.

Emergency services said no-one was injured as a result of the fire.

A Strathclyde Fire and Rescue spokesman added: "Firefighters saved the two-storey office block but unfortunately the main storage area was extensively damaged.

Business contingency plans have been implemented to ensure the maintenance of essential supplies Michael Healy NSS Logistics

"A number of persons were evacuated from a nearby factory as a precautionary measure."

The management of the depot, which also supplies Carstairs State Hospital, said they were still assessing the scale of the fire damage to the surgical equipment.

Supplies such as needles and dressings were affected but no drugs or machines for hospital use were kept at the premises, said Michael Healy, director of national procurement for NSS Logistics, which is part of NHS Scotland.

He said: "Business contingency plans have been implemented to ensure the maintenance of essential supplies."

'Tremendous heat'

John Anderson, 52, from West Mains, lives close to the scene of the fire.

He said: "The building was quite mangled, it looked as though there could even have been an explosion inside - there was certainly a tremendous heat because it was in a right state."

Meanwhile, about 20 firefighters tackled a blaze in a derelict building in Kilsyth in North Lanarkshire.

The fire in the roof of the two-storey building on the town's Main Street was reported at about 0300 GMT.

No-one was injured but neighbouring buildings were evacuated.