Fire Appliances from Coleraine, Portrush, Ballymoney and Portstewart tackled a potentially hazardous fire at a carpet showroom in the early hours of 15 September 2007. Police are currently investigating the cause of the blaze which was discovered at Smallcoast Carpets at Hillman's Way at around 2:30 am, with fire crews remaining at the scene until approximately 5:00 am that morning. Adjoining premises also sustained extensive smoke and water damage as a result of the fire.
Peter O'Reilly from the Fire and Rescue Service explained that the presence of asbestos in the roof of the building made the job more difficult as the deadly material could pose a hazard to fire crews. "When an asbestos roof is involved in a fire - particularly when firefighters may be moving through broken parts of the asbestos - the substance can break up when dry and if breathed in could cause significant health problems in the future. Thankfully the training we receive and the fact that a specialist hazmat officer was in attendance from Ballymena meant we were able to put in specific contingencies so nobody was in any danger."
Owner of Smallcoast carpets, David Small, said he plans to re-open part of his his business soon. "We have to wait for environmental and health and safety officers to come and look over the premises but once we get the all clear from them I would hope to open the back part of the premises by the end of the week. The front part is fairly badly damaged but we are going to board that up and work around it till we can get it fixed."
