Firefighters have been tackling a blaze at a derelict hotel overnight, as crews remain on the scene on Monday morning.
At around 1am on Monday 23 September, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service attended the scene of a ‘well developed fire’ in the area of Airth near Falkirk.
The fire broke out in the former Airth Castle Hotel building, but there have been no reported casualties.
⚠️ INCIDENT - derelict hotel fire, Airth ⚠️
— Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (@fire_scot) September 23, 2024
We are currently tackling a well-developed fire within a two-storey derelict former hotel building in Airth.
- six appliances and a height vehicle on scene
-no reported casualties
- local residents will see reduced water supply pic.twitter.com/eZDzUuFOKK
Four fire appliances remain on the scene. after an initial six and a high reach vehicle were sent to the incident.
Nearby residents have been advised that some of the water supply might be reduced while emergency services continue to deal with the fire.
A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “We are still in attendance at a fire within a two-storey derelict former hotel building in Airth, Falkirk.
“Four appliances remain on scene after the initial call came in just after 1am on Monday, 23 September.
“There are no reports of any casualties and currently there is no threat to the local community.
“Nearby residents may have seen water supplies impacted as we required increased levels of water to assist in tackling the fire.
“We will remain on scene until the incident is brought to a safe conclusion.”
The former hotel, which used to operate as a popular wedding venue, closed last year
The operators voluntarily ceased trading in March 2023, with the loss of 26 full-time staff and several part-time workers. However, they faced backlash from locals and people who had booked to have their wedding at the venue, with some claiming they had received no warning.
READ MORE: Backlash as operators of popular Scots castle wedding venue go bust
The operating company blamed the Covid pandemic and soaring energy bills for the decision to fold.
Ever since closing, the venue has been plagued by incidents of anti-social behaviour and wilful fire raising, and vandalism.
The most recent fire to take place in the abandoned building was in May of this year, which lead to Police stepping up their efforts to monitor the area and put a stop to the intentional damage.
Posting on social media in May, they said: “We want to keep you informed about recent developments regarding safety and security in our area.
“Due to reported crimes, including break-ins, fire raising, damage, and anti-social behaviour, our dedicated police officers have stepped up patrols around Airth Castle and Hotel.”
After the fire this morning, a Police Scotland spokesperson added: “Around 1.40am on Monday, 23 September, 2024, we were called to a report of a fire at a building at Airth Castle.
“Enquiries will be carried out with Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to establish the cause of the fire.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel