Disaster struck this morning for the owners of the Dusk ‘n’ Don 24 hour shop on the corner of Gibson Street and Otago Street.

A power surge, reportedly from the subway caused an electrical fire in the stock basement of the shop just before 7am. Most GOW residents awoke to no power in their flats, so quite a few cold washes were had and make-up applied as near to windows as possible.

Naveed, a regular on the night shift called Ikram Ahmed, who manages the family-owned store, when the lighting failed. On descending the basement stairs, Ikram could smell smoke and heard a popping and crackling noise accompanied by a rush of smoke. He acted quickly, calling for the Fire brigade, who were in attendance 10 minutes later.

Residents of 97 Otago Street were affected by the smoke ; many windows were open today to air out flats. The smoke was too dense this morning to allow an electrical engineer in to assess and repair the damage, and remained so until the Firemen placed a powerful extractor into the shop unit. The left bank also had to close.

A Resident’s Perspective

Jake from 97 Otago Street, recounts his experience of the fire :

“7am: Bang Bang Bang. I wake with a start: Crap! Burglar! Where’s the hammer?… Crap! Hammer in the hallway; where’s the hockey stick? Bang Bang Bang! “Jake, wake up, there’s a fire!”, Crap! Where’s the fire extinguisher?

I finally come to my senses and see the smoke outside my window. There’s a fireman at my front door. By the look of the smoke in the close I expect to see flames billowing out from one of the lower flats, but as we get outside it dawns on us that it’s coming out the shop.

There’s nothing like a fire for meeting your neighbours. None of us really knew what to expect, some had come in only pyjamas, some clutching precious laptops. After the initial excitement, and learning we wouldn’t be allowed back in for several hours, we retreated to a local coffee shop, Offshore: shut.

It’s really amazing how much smoke a relatively small fire can make. Our flat had a layer of ash throughout; several hours of scrubbing and vacuuming ensued. But the smell remains. It seems we will be reminded of our lucky escape for a long time to come.”

The word from Scottish Power is that if fuse damage is found, then the power should be back on this afternoon, however if cable damage is found, then it could be 6pm or later before we can all boil the kettle for a cup of tea. Worse for Dusk ‘n’ Don of course as the smoke damage has rendered their stock unsellable and the shop is likely to remain closed for several days, at the very least.

UPDATE : Power returned to the triangle at 3pm. The left bank will remain closed this evening to dispel smoke from their basement, but will be open for business as usual on Friday 27th.

Fire Cordon and extractor equipment

Otago Street cordon and Electrical Engineer’s van

Fire Crew