At 17:00 hours on the 1tth February, two appliances from Castletown fire station and the incident command vehicle from Douglas Station where mobilised by the Emergency Joint Control Room to a car on fire in an industrial unit in Balthane Industrial Estate.
On arrival the crews were confronted with a car well alight within the unit, the officer in charge, Station Officer Tim Clegg committed two firefighters wearing breathing apparatus and using a high pressure hosereel in to the building to extinguish the fire. Whilst fighting the fire the firefighters identified an acetylene cylinder which was in close proximity to the burning vehicle.
Fire crews were withdrawn from the building for safety reasons and with the aid of the Police a 200m evacuation zone was established, the zone included most of the industrial estate, some residential properties and the closure of the main Castletown Road.
A technical process was then instigated by the crews which involved a prolong period of remote water cooling and monitoring of the cylinder in order to make it safe, at 23:00 hours the evacuation zone was reduced to the vicinity of the building and at 08:00 hrs on the 12th February the cooling process was completed.
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