At 0945hrs yesterday, Sunday 22 March 2015 appliances from Ardrossan, Largs and Kilmarnock Community Fire Stations were mobilised to a report of a conveyor on fire at the Deep Water Port, Hunterston Terminal in Fairlie.
Initial responding crews were faced with a well developed fire within a ship loader and conveyor system used for loading coal from the terminal and the Incident Commander immediately requested additional appliances from Dalry and Dreghon Community Fire Stations to assist in dealing with the incident.
During firefighting operations crews had to be withdrawn to a safe distance as a precautionary measure due to the partial collapse of a section of the machinery.
Further resources including a firefighting tug, a high reach appliance and ground monitors were also deployed by the Incident Commander.
Firefighting operations continued throughout the day and the fire has been contained. No injuries were sustained as a result of this incident.
The facility is operated by Clydeport and can handle thousands of tonnes of coal an hour.
The damaged loader is believed to supply coal to feeder ships to be transferred to coal-fired power stations in Northern Ireland. Coal from the Hunterston terminal also supplies Longannet power station in Fife and some plants in England.
