| Firebugs won't drive me out, says garage owner |
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| Written by Andrea O'Neill | ||||||
 A DEFIANT local businessman whose premises were targeted in a second malicious arson attack insists he will not be put out of business. Thomsons Exhaust and Auto Centre owner Drew Irvine has suffered a double threat to his livelihood in the last four weeks. The weekend before Christmas one of his two units at Nerston industrial estate was destroyed by a deliberate late-night blaze. Then, on Thursday between 6.20pm and 9.40pm his second unit was set alight, destroying four cars belonging to customers and several pieces of expensive equipment. The cost of both fires is expected to total £80,000. Police are treating both incidents as willful fire-raising. Drew told the East Kilbride Mail he believes he is being targeted and he claims he knows who is behind the attacks. He said: “The last fire was bad enough but this is too much, I’m devastated. They could have taken away my livelihood.” The garage was forced to close on Friday and Saturday as Drew and his workforce worked tirelessly over the course of the weekend to clear the charred remains and salvage what they could. However, they were limited to what they could do when they opened for business on Monday. Drew added: “It’s caused me major headaches worrying if I will have to re-locate to another unit. We had to work the entire weekend to get this place up and running again. I’m so mad at the stress this has caused. Thankfully the customers whose cars were damaged have been sympathetic.” Security staff at Wilson Place raised the alarm after spotting flames leaping from the rear of the unit. Fire crews took extra care to douse the building with water after extinguishing the blaze due to the presence of highly flammable acetylene cylinders and other dangerous chemicals. In the first fire attack just before Christmas, a 200 metre exclusion zone was set up by firefighters around Drew Irvine’s Wilson Place garage and all trading units were evacuated for most of the day because of the threat that one of the cylinders might explode. East Mains Road, at the junction with the Whirlies roundabout and and Iona Avenue, was also closed. An acetylene cylinder is a highly dangerous welding device. The blast can cause a travelling fire ball, projectile hazards, flying glass and structural damage to nearby buildings. East Kilbride fire station commander, Sandy Gillespie, had previously told the East Kilbride Mail if the gas cylinder had combusted in the fire, it would have been “like a bomb going off”. Police have launched a full investigation after forensics officers confirmed the blaze as suspicious on Friday. Sergeant Barry McGinley of East Kilbride police said: “This is the second fire raising incident at the same premises. “The previous fire, on December 20, caused major disruption to the local community due to roads being closed off for a considerable period of time. “Police are investigating both fires and anyone with information relating to either fire is urged to get in touch.” Drew Irvine is now heightening security at the site by planning to install CCTV. He said: “No one will put me out of business. We will survive this and keep going. Whoever has done this won’t win.” Anyone with information is urged to call East Kilbride CID on 01355 564016.
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