Five heritage buildings in Edinburgh hit by fire in past year

One blaze a day in historic properties across country

Myreside pavilion was badly damaged by fire

FIVE heritage buildings in Edinburgh have been hit by fire since the devastating blaze at Paris’s Notre Dame cathedral a year ago.

According to the National Database of Fires in Heritage Buildings, there were over 400 such fires across the UK - an average of more than one a day.

In Edinburgh they included the Caley Picture House pub in Lothian Road, Debenhams in Princes Street, Pret-a-Manger on North Bridge and Watsonians’ Myreside pavilion.

The worst of the fires listed by the database in the Capital in the past 12 months was at the Raeburn laundrette in Stockbridge in June last year.

Footage on social media at the time showed plumes of smoke billowing from the building. About 20 firefighters were involved in tackling the fire, using three fire engines and a turntable ladder. No-one was injured, but the database said 80 per cent of the property was damaged by the fire.

The fire at Debenhams later the same month broke out one morning before the store opened. Around 25 firefighters helped tackle the fire in the 1869 B-listed building. No-one was injured.

One person had to be treated by ambulance crews after the fire which broke out at Pret-a-Manger on North Bridge one Sunday afternoon last November.

Around 35 firefighters tackled the fire. And The Scotsman Hotel next door was evacuated because of the amount of smoke.

The Watsonians’ clubhouse at Myreside was gutted by a fire which broke out in the roof of the historic building one morning in February this year. The blaze quickly took hold in the roof and first floor of the two-storey clubhouse.

Six fire engines and a turntable ladder were used at the scene as 40 firefighters helped deal with the fire. No-one was injured. The Caley Picture House had to be evacuated when a fire alarm went off in March. The cellar of the Wetherspoons pub had filled with smoke and the incident blamed on a cigarette end slipping through a gap in a road tile outside.

The National Database of Fires in Heritage Buildings recorded a total of 417 fires in heritage buildings across the UK over the past year.

Specialist fire risk assessor Keith Atkinson, who is co-author of the database, has called for tighter laws forcing owners of all heritage assets to boost their protection measures.

He said: “If it is a modern building that burns down, although disastrous for the owners and occupiers, hopefully it is insured and is easily rebuilt - but you cannot rebuild heritage.”

A spokesperson for Historic Environment Scotland (HES) said: “HES works closely with owners of listed and historic buildings to provide advice, and we have published detailed guidance on fire safety management for historic buildings which sets out the principles which should be applied.”