Dog dies, and another fighting for its life, following devastating farm blaze

Author: Ally McGilvrayPublished 20th Mar 2023
Last updated 20th Mar 2023

A dog has died and another is fighting for its life following a fire in Galashiels at the weekend.

The ice-cream parlour at Over Langshaw Farm has also been destroyed in the blaze in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The owners have taken to social media to praise the community for rallying round in support - with offers of generators, flasks and even cake.

The bespoke ice-cream business has shared dramatic images of the blaze, as well as their beloved pet, on its Facebook page.

It's unclear how long it could take to re-start production, but customers are being contacted directly.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the farm says: "We have had a terrible fire at the farm early Saturday morning. Thankfully everyone is okay. But we have lost our big pal Nash the dog 💔 We are all absolutely devastated. Our other collie, Meg, is still fighting at the vets 😔🤞

"Just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who has helped out over the weekend. Especially the firefighters and Tom Lawrence. Everyone who has brought generators, flasks and even cake. ❤️ The Ice cream parlour and all its contents have gone, so there won't be any production for a while. I've tried to get in touch with as many of our customers as possible.

"Thank goodness all our livestock, big people and wee people are ok. There's a long way to go, but we will come back from this 💪🏻"

Emergency services raced to the scene - on the back road between Galashiels and Lauder - after the alarm was raised, shortly before 4am on Saturday, and fire crews spent more than four hours making the scene safe.

The blaze is not being treated as suspicious.

READ MORE: Galashiels man caught with indecent images of children as young as five placed on Sex Offenders Register

A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “We were alerted at 3.49am on Saturday, March 18th, to reports of a farm building well alight on Bluecairn Road, Galashiels.

"Operations Control initially mobilised two fire appliances, increasing to four appliances in total to the scene, where firefighters extinguished the fire and rescued three dogs.

"There were no other casualties. Crews left at 8.17am after ensuring the area was made safe."

Do you have a story you'd like to share on the radio? Email our reporter: ally.mcgilvray@bauermedia.co.uk

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Greatest Hits Radio app.