Around forty firefighters, including some Edinburgh fire crews, have been tackling a blaze at North Berwick fire station in East Lothian this morning.
The building and two appliances housed inside it have been badly damaged by the fire.
The alarm was raised at 5.20am with a report of smoke issuing from the building. When retained crews arrived at the station the building was well alight with heavy smoke coming from the premises.
They were unable to access the station safely and immediately requested further assistance from neighbouring stations.
Crews from East Linton, Haddington, Dunbar, Newcraighall, Tranent, an Incident Support Unit from Marionville, a Command Support Unit from Liberton and a height appliance from McDonald Road all attended at the scene.
The two appliances from within the station were removed when firefighters were mobilised but were damaged by the fire.
The fire station itself is also badly damaged by the blaze and crews are still tackling the fire.
A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service said:
“Firefighters are working very hard to bring the fire at North Berwick’s retained station under control. There is still heavy smoke coming from the blaze and police are in attendance to assist early morning commuters trying to access the train station, which is at the rear of the fire station.
“There is currently no vehicular access to the train station but commuters should be able to get through on foot.
“When retained crews first arrived at the scene the station was well alight and they were unable to safely access the building immediately requesting more resources to the scene.
“A risk assessment was carried out and as smoke was blowing towards the sea it was deemed safest to leave residents in a nearby housing estate indoors and clear from the worst of the smoke and the cold weather.
“Our business continuity plans have been activated to ensure that there is adequate cover in the immediate area given that North Berwick fire station has been significantly damaged.
“Crews have been working very hard in difficult weather conditions to extinguish the blaze. Fire investigation is on the scene but it is too early to say what caused the fire.”
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