Car showroom owner 'heartbroken' after vehicles destroyed by fire

The owner of a car showroom in County Londonderry which was destroyed in a fire, said the amount of damage caused to his business is "gut-wrenching".

At the height of the blaze on Wednesday morning, about 55 firefighters dealt with the fire at the building on the Carhill Road near Garvagh, which also has a cafe.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is treating the incident as arson.

Liam Rafferty who owns Carhill Cars, said he is "heartbroken" but thankful no one was injured.

The fire service was called to the incident at about 04:30 BST on Wednesday.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service said the fire had now been extinguished, but firefighters were still dealing with hotspots.

Rafferty, who has worked at the dealership since he was a teenager, explained how the fire escalated.

"The blaze took hold so fast it was crazy," he said.

"We were lucky we only lost one car, and at the end of the day nobody was hurt."

Rafferty said the building is destroyed.

"The beams are all warped, the walls are about to fall, it just needs to be completely knocked down and started all over again".

He added that the fire won't deter the business from operating "as usual".

"It's horrible, but it's not the end of the world. The business will keep on going, we're very resilient."

NIFRS western area commander David Doherty told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme that when the first crews arrived at the scene, the fire was already "well-developed".

He described it as "quite a large operation".

At the height of the blaze, six fire appliances were in attendance, along with a command support unit and a water tanker.

Doherty said that due to the large scale of the dealership, which also includes the cafe, crews had to deal with multiple hazards, including cylinders, oils and aerosols.

"Unfortunately, the vehicles and the contents in the building and some of the surrounding vehicles were destroyed, so this will be a big loss to the local economy," he said.

DUP councillor Michelle Knight-McQuillan said the fire had left two businesses "completely devastated".

"There will be loss of jobs and loss of business; it's just such a blow here," she said.

"I spoke to the cafe owner this morning and, as you can imagine, they are just in a complete state of shock.

"Imagine getting up in the morning ready to go to work and then picking up your phone and finding messages like that. It must just be an absolute blow.

"Everything is completely gone and, at the minute, they just don't know what they're going to do. I just feel so sorry for them."

Police have appealed to anyone who may have witnessed anyone suspicious in the area or to anyone who may have footage, to contact them.