Terrifying moment Linwood man heard explosions as huge fire broke out near his flat

A LINWOOD man has told of the terrifying moment he heard explosions coming from outside his flat as a huge fire broke out at a nearby industrial estate.

James Taylor had been watching the Scotland v Hungary game when the “shooting noises” began at around 9.30pm on Sunday.

The 66-year-old looked out of the kitchen window at his Belmar Court property and said he couldn’t believe what he was seeing as large plumes of smoke billowed from Linwood Industrial Estate.

(Image: Colin Mearns) James said: “I was watching the Scotland game and my girlfriend phoned and asked if I’d seen the fire at my place.

“She thought it was the high flats because she stays further down the road. I told her I hadn’t seen it but I’d heard a lot of banging noises.

“I went through to the kitchen and my goodness it was a mess. I had an idea of where the fire was.

“They have old fridges and other stuff there at the recycling place. That’s how everything was shooting about with all the fridges blowing up.

“It was a bit scary to hear.”

READ NEXT: Aftermath of huge fire at Linwood Enva facility

Smoke billowing from the recycling centre on Sunday, June 23 (Image: Supplied) Police, firefighters, and SEPA (Scottish Environment Protection Agency) officials were called to the scene at the Johnstone Household Waste and Recycling Centre at around 10pm on Sunday.

Ten fire engines were sent as part of a special operations team to tackle the blaze. Three currently remain in attendance.

It has since been confirmed that the fire broke out at Enva’s WEEE Solutions e-waste facility - a specialist waste electrical and battery recycling treatment facility on Burnbrae Road.

Police are in attendance at the Johnstone Household Waste and Recycling Centre (Image: Colin Mearns) The recycling company, based at Linwood Industrial Estate, released a statement on Monday morning.

It reads: "We would like to apologise to local residents and businesses for any inconvenience caused and kindly ask them to follow any advice issued by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

"There have been no injuries and the cause of the fire will be the subject of an immediate and thorough investigation."

James explained that he had never seen such dark smoke before in his life.

Firefighters remain at the scene on Monday (Image: Colin Mearns) He added: “I’ve never seen smoke as black as that before. We had to shut our windows because it was so dark.

“The smoke just lay up in the sky hardly moving. After it had been going for about two hours you could see the flames.

“Firefighters are still there [Monday afternoon] and their hoses are just going constantly. It looks like it has dulled down but then as soon as that happens the smoke goes up again.

“Someone told me that it could be seen in Ayr.”

READ NEXT: Enva promises investigation after Linwood fire

Thousands took to social media to share images of the smoke which could be seen from locations across Glasgow, East Dunbartonshire, West Dunbartonshire, and beyond.

One person reported that this is the second time there has been a fire at the WEEE Solutions e-waste facility in two years with the first taking place on June 16, 2022.

They said: "I had just finished watching the football when I went on social media and noticed people posting pictures of the fire, which looked to be near my house.

"I looked out the window and couldn't believe the size of the smoke plumes. They were dark grey and seemed neverending.

"I shut all my windows due to concerns about the fumes. It is the second time there has been a fire there in two years.

"I hope that there will be more safety measures introduced to prevent this happening again."

READ NEXT: Fire crews tackling blaze at recycling centre as huge smoke billows seen

Renfrewshire Council announced on Monday that the recycling centre would be temporarily shut for the day as emergency services continued to secure the site - 17 hours after the fire started.

The local authority added that it will review the situation on Tuesday and aims to reopen the centre “as soon as possible”.

The Fire Brigade Union (FBU) also voiced some concerns it has about the blaze.

Gus Sproul, chair of the FBU in Scotland, said: "The FBU have concerns about the speed of the introduction of technology and the regulations around EVs, battery storage etc. and that these will be shared by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

"We know that there are many hazardous materials contained in the kinds of devices stored at this facility and that many of them are very challenging to extinguish when involved in a fire.

"We hope that all the crews in attendance are safe and able to protect themselves at the incident and properly decontaminate afterwards.

"We cannot comment further until we have more details of the cause of the fire."

At present, the cause of the fire is not known.

Local residents are also being advised they no longer need to keep windows and doors shut and they can go outside safely.