A MECHANIC has described how he and a workmate tried to tackle the fire which destroyed the Glengate Garage.

Davie MacDonald (33) spoke as he recovered at his home after breathing in smoke as he tried to safeguard customers’ cars.

Mr MacDonald had been working below a pick-up when he heard a noise which unsettled him.

“It was a freak bang and by the time I got out from underneath it, I couldn’t get near the cab because of the fire,” he said.

He and panel-beater Duncan Wood immediately grabbed fire extinguishers.

“We both tore in about it, but it was up the height of the rafters in seconds,” Mr MacDonald said.

They were concerned for customers’ vehicles parked at the door of the garage-which had their keys removed from the ignitions.

Mr MacDonald dashed into the burning and smoke-filled garage to find a tray containing the keys.

As he emerged from the smoke, he threw down the keys which were used by Mr Wood and visiting motor-parts delivery driver Charlie Geddes to shift the at-risk vehicles.

Mr MacDonald, a director in the business, then felt the full impact of what he had done.

“I didn’t know I had taken in any smoke,” he added. “But my chest went tight.

“I couldn’t get a breath and felt that someone had their hand on my chest. I lost all energy.”

Firefighters gave him oxygen and he was comforted by a resident before walking into an ambulance which took him to Forfar for treatment.

Mr MacDonald was still trying to come to terms with Tuesday’s events.

“Ask anybody who welds and they will tell you that you get fires, but you normally put them out with your hands,” he said.

“I am lucky to be here, but I am gutted about what has happened to the garage.

“Everything I had I have put into that garage and, as far as I am concerned, my whole life is up in the air.

“I am still trying to deal with it all.”