Carhill Cars fire destroys six vehicles near Garvagh
carhill cars on Carhill Road near Garvagh was gutted by fire after firefighters were called at about 04:30 BST on Wednesday. The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service believed the blaze was deliberate, and crews were still dealing with hotspots after the fire was brought under control.
David Doherty, the service's western area commander, said about 55 firefighters were at the incident at the height of the blaze. He said the building had been completely gutted and that six cars were destroyed while four others were damaged by heat and smoke.
Carhill Road response
Doherty described the response as "quite a large operation". At the height of the fire, six fire appliances, a command support unit and a water tanker were in attendance, and he said the first crews found the fire already well-developed.
The showroom's scale meant crews had to deal with cylinders, oils and aerosols inside the building. Doherty said, "Unfortunately, the vehicles and the contents in the building and some of the surrounding vehicles were destroyed, so this will be a big loss to the local economy,".
Michelle Knight-McQuillan
The building also housed a cafe, and DUP councillor Michelle Knight-McQuillan said the fire had left two businesses "completely devastated". She said, "There will be loss of jobs and loss of business; it's just such a blow here," and added that she had spoken to the cafe owner that morning.
"I spoke to the cafe owner this morning and, as you can imagine, they are just in a complete state of shock," she said. "Imagine getting up in the morning ready to go to work and then picking up your phone and finding messages like that. It must just be an absolute blow."
Fire investigation
NIFRS will now move on to a fire investigation to determine the cause of the blaze. For the showroom and cafe on Carhill Road, the immediate damage is already clear: the building was gutted, six cars were lost, and crews left still checking for hotspots while the investigation begins.
