By Cara Sulieman
FIREFIGHTERS rushed to save thousands of books from flames after yobs started a fire in a library toilet.
Staff had to evacuate the McDonald Road library in Edinburgh after the blaze was discovered today (thurs) afternoon.
Toilet paper had been stuffed into a pipe duct in an out of order cubicle before being set alight.
And after two firemen in breathing apparatus managed to douse the flames, they still had to deal with the plumes of smoke that had clogged the library’s corridors.
“Saved a few stories”
Andrew McGuigan, crew manager of Green Watch from McDonald Road fire station who put out the flames, said that it was a lucky escape for the thousands of tomes housed inside the historic building.
He said: “I guess you could say we saved a few stories.
“We got the call just before 3pm and were at the incident quite quickly. The staff at the library were very good and had already evacuated the building.
“Three pump appliances and one height appliance with a total of 15 firemen attended the scene.
“Although the fire was put out quite quickly, there was a lot of smoke to deal with. A fire investigation team also attended and we left the police in attendance as their forensics team looked for fingerprints and that kind of thing.”
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