Firefighters spent several hours tackling a major blaze at a church in Brechin.
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service deployed six appliances after the town’s old Maison Dieu Church caught fire on Wednesday.
Flames engulfed the Witchden Road building at around 3pm.
Firefighters brought the blaze under control after three hours.
But they continued to tackle the blaze into the night.
Pictures taken at the scene by The Courier show the 19th-century church has been visibly damaged.
Several properties were evacuated and Witchden Road was shut.
The Courier’s reporter Andrew Robson arrived at around 5.45pm.
He observed: “Police have sealed off the area, fire crews are pumping water from the River South Esk.
“Smoke is still billowing from the building and you can still see the blaze inside.
“Incident response units are on standby.”
He has also been talking to shocked locals.
At 6.15pm, one resident told him: “It was wild earlier when it first took hold, I’ve seen tonnes of pictures of the fire.
“The fire brigade seems to have it under control now but you can still see flickers in the building.
“I think it’s been empty for more than 30 years but what has happened today is a real shame.”
Brechin man Ralph Jamieson used to rehearse at the back of the church when it was still in use.
He said: “It’s a great shame.
“The church is one of the finest buildings in Brechin, for its size, the impression it gave, and the tower’s impact on the skyline.
“It’s such a shame this has happened today.”
A nearby resident added: “When I left for my work just after 2pm the tower was up in flames.
“I remember being in the church when I was younger.
“For years it’s sat empty and unused, it’s a shame.”
As darkness fell, there was no sign of firefighters easing up on their efforts to extinguish the fire.
At 7.30pm, an onlooker told The Courier: “At one point the smoke was so dense you couldn’t step outside.
“Embers were landing in the garden and burning the grass.
“It looks like the crews will be here all night.”
A spokesperson for SFRS said in an initial statement: “We got a call at 3.49pm about a fire at the church.
“We have six appliances at the scene from Brechin, Montrose, Arbroath, Laurencekirk, Kirriemuir and Aberdeen.
“This is a level two fire for us so pretty significant.
“Crews are at the scene with others on the way.
“They are currently working out a plan for fighting the fire.
“We have no further details at this stage.”
At 9.40pm, a SFRS spokesperson confirmed the operation had been scaled back to four appliances.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We were made aware of a fire at a premises on Witchden Road in Brechin around 3pm on Wednesday, 5 March, 2025.
“Emergency services are in attendance and the road is closed.
“A number of nearby properties have been evacuated as a precaution.”
Former Brechin church went to auction for £75k
The 1890s property was available for auction in April 2024 with a guide price of £75,000.
It came with planning permission in principle for seven two-bedroom flats.
Prime Property Auctions described the old church as an “exceptional, rare development opportunity”.
The building, which has been empty for several decades, was built by Sir George Washington Browne in 1891 in a late neoclassical Georgian style.
It is made of sandstone with ashlar surrounds, and its Greek-style front overlooking Witchden Road.
According to the Buildings at Risk Register, a preservation trust was set up in 2001 to support the future of the building – and in 2003 a feasibility study is thought to have been carried out into its use as a Scottish fiddle centre.
An inspection in 2009 found its condition was deteriorating rapidly and by 2011 the church had been put up for sale via Ryden in Dundee.
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