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The Clonmel Road in Mitchelstown was closed from lunchtime on Wednesday as a precaution against possible risk of an explosion.

The Clonmel Road in Mitchelstown was closed from lunchtime on Wednesday as a precaution against possible risk of an explosion when, at 12.45pm, a fire was detected in the workshop located right across the road from the Dairygold offices.

A spokesperson for the emergency services told The Avondhu that the fire was 'small and dealt with in time' but that there could have been serious ramifications.

“What happened was that a tyre went on fire. This was put out but there were gas cylinders in the workshop also and one of these in particular got very hot. This would be the type of cylinder used in blowtorches for example so it would be extremely flammable. As a precaution it was decided to close the road until this cylinder could be cooled down and taken away.”

Failure to cool down the object could have led to a serious explosion so it was a case of being safe rather than sorry to close the road while at the same time trying to cool it with water and other agents. At the time of going to press there was a technical expert on the way from BOC Gases Ireland Ltd.

“It’s this person who will ultimately decide when the cylinder is cooled down and made safe. It will then be taken away. It can’t be reused as it’s now damaged.”

Two units of the fire brigade were on the scene from Mitchelstown and Fermoy. The spokesperson assured The Avondhu that had an explosion occurred it would have been ‘powerful enough to do tremendous damage and could have taken the roof off the place like a rocket’. It wasn’t determined as of going to press, how the fire started.

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