Residents living near Park Road in Aberdeen were urged to keep their windows and doors shut on Monday evening as firefighters battled a blaze at a derelict building in the area.
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service crews were called to the scene at around 5.57pm, with the empty building well alight by the time they arrived. The advice to close windows and doors came as smoke began spreading into the surrounding neighbourhood, raising concerns about air quality for those living nearby.
Derelict buildings have long been a headache for emergency services across Scotland, often attracting antisocial behaviour and presenting serious fire risks. Once a blaze takes hold in an empty structure, it can spread rapidly with little to slow it down, making the job for firefighters significantly more dangerous and difficult.
Locals in the Park Road area were asked to stay inside where possible and avoid the immediate vicinity while crews worked to bring the fire under control. The cause of the blaze had not been confirmed at the time of the initial reports.
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has not yet released a full statement on what caused the fire or how long it took to extinguish, but multiple crews are understood to have attended the scene given the scale of the response.