Skyline engulfed by inferno after fire breaks out at industrial estate
Residents had to stay indoors and close windows after a huge fire broke out at an industrial estate.
Fire crews were called to the blaze in Paisley on Sunday evening when massive plumes of smoke could be seen across Glasgow.
The pall obscured the sky some seven miles away in Partick.
Emergency services were alerted to the fire in a commercial building on the Linwood Industrial Estate just after 9pm, and five fire crews remained at the scene yesterday morning.
It is not known how the inferno started, but waste solutions company Enva said it broke out at its Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Solutions ‘e-waste’ facility.
In a statement, Enva apologised to local residents and businesses and thanked the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the police.
The Fire Brigades Union yesterday raised concerns about the regulations for electric vehicles and battery storage.
Gus Sproul, chairman of the FBU, said: ‘We know there are many hazardous materials contained in the kinds of devices stored at this site.’
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said that it received a call about the fire at 9:12pm.
'At its height, Operations Control mobilised 10 fire appliances to the scene to tackle and contain a well-developed fire affecting a commercial building in an industrial area.
'There are no reported casualties at this time. Crews remain in attendance.'
While the site is just four miles away from Glasgow Airport, which last year saw more than seven million passengers, a spokesperson said there was no disruption to flight.
Data from FlightRadar, however, shows that several planes had to make swooping arcs through the sky to avoid the massive bloom.
Video on the ground back the data up, with one showing a plane banking to escape the plume.
Eyewitnesses said they could see the plume for miles around.
One said: 'Starting to hear loud bangs now too, like fireworks. The smoke cloud is heading towards Glasgow.'
Another, commiserating Scotland's loss against Hungary tonight in Euro 2024, joked: 'Linwood fire - thank you. Took my mind off that last second goal.'
Another said: 'Glasgow commiserates itself by setting the sky on fire.'