A senior fire officer has praised Arbroath chip shop staff for their textbook response to a dramatic tea-time blaze at the High Street premises.
The long-time owner of the popular Golden Haddock faces a massive bill after a blaze broke out under the shop’s main fryer just before 5pm, but Claude Batard said the key outcome was that staff, customers and nearby residents had escaped injury and that has been attributed to prompt thinking by the safety-conscious female employees.
The alarm was raised around 5pm after staff saw smoke coming from the main range, which hours earlier had been the subject of an extensive independent safety inspection.
Employee Mel McCombie said: ”We had been working away and thought we could smell burning plastic, and then the lights went out. I then saw dark smoke coming out from underneath (the range) and knew that it was a fire, so we just got everyone out.”
With colleagues Erin Henderson and Nic Falconer, Mel also alerted staff at the neighbouring Sugar and Spice shop, as well as residents in nearby properties.
”The fire brigade acted so promptly, we can’t praise them enough, but when they arrived you could see there was a fire inside and it could have been a lot worse if they hadn’t got here as quickly as they did,” Mel added.
Two appliances rushed to the scene and station manager Craig Thomson from Dundee’s McAlpine Road praised the staff’s reaction to the drama.
”The staff did exactly the right thing,” he said. ”They isolated the power because it was safe to do so, they got themselves out, called for assistance and, most importantly, they stayed out.
”When we arrived the doors were closed and there was some thick smoke-logging in the shop, with flames issuing below the range.
”CO2 extinguishers and dry powder were used to deal with the fire and we then ventilated the property using a portable fan,” he added.
Mr Batard, who has owned the shop for more than 15 years, said today will bring a proper opportunity to assess the full extent of the damage.
The main serving area of the shop was worst affected, with significant smoke damage to the adjoining restaurant area.
He said: ”This morning we spent five hours checking the line so I am very surprised to see this disaster now.
”We don’t know the exact cause of the fire, but it may have been a wire or something underneath. The main thing is that everyone is OK that is what is most important.”
Photos Jim Ratcliffe