Peel Centre Fire

A major fire broke out in the Peel Centre, shopping area, on the Lockerbie Road, Dumfries this afternoon. The fire began in the Brantano Shoes Store around closing time. Neighbouring stores don’t appear to be seriously affected, but the car parks were closed while the services dealt with the situation.

The fire is now being damped down (9.45pm) and the situation is under control. Several appliances arrived at the scene within minutes of the alarm being raised. No one was injured as a consequence of the incident.

Our reporter, Alan McLauchlan, was at the scene this evening and says the situation is calm and the services in attendance are confident that the damage has been confined to the Brantano Store.

In an interview by Alan Mclauchlan with Neil Erskine the incident commander the circumstances of the fire will not be known until an investigation by the fire department and the police authorities has been carried out.
It is thought that the fire started in the back storage area which was quite intense at one stage. the fire brigade has brought it under control, however there was significant smoke damage in the adjoining buildings. There were still staff in the Pets at home store and other buildings which were then evacuated, some cars remained in the parking lots and were Zoned off for safety.

it was later reported that the Pets at home store evacuated their pets, unfortunately they were not able to rescue all of the pets and it is not know how many if any had perished at this time