Firefighters attended a blaze at a former jewellery store on Leven High Street.
The old G Masterton Jewellers building caught fire just before 10pm on Friday night.
Six appliances were sent to the scene, with the building cordoned of while crews tackled the blaze.
Crews remained on scene until Saturday afternoon.
Fortunately, nobody was injured in the blaze.
Fire ‘devastating’ for former occupants
A spokesperson for the jewellery business, which moved out of the building eight years ago to a new premises on High Street, wrote on Facebook: “Such a shame.
“We’ve generation’s of memories in that gorgeous old building and now it’s all just been destroyed.
“We were up earlier and it was devastating to see the firefighters trying to contain the fire.
“The empathy, support and genuine sadness from the local community when word spread that the old shop was on fire last night was just amazing.
“That alone gives me hope that we won’t let this latest nightmare be the final nail in the coffin for the High Street and we will support all the affected businesses and be sure to keep the High Street going.
“We had birthdays there and celebrations for anniversaries, births and whatever else.
“We shared good news there and found out some really bad news within those walls.
“I can’t even count the amount of family arguments we had storming up those stairs shouting at each other.
“We had family reunions with long lost relatives there.
“And we shared so many special moments with friends in those walls too.
“Decades of memories, and last night they’ve all gone up in smoke.”
Blaze ‘could impact at least ten other businesses’
The fire has had a large impact on other businesses due to its location.
There were worries it could also affect the town’s Christmas light switch-on due to take place on Saturday, but this went ahead as planned.
Councillor Colin Davidson said: “We’ve got another devastating fire that’s gonna potentially impact on at least 10 businesses right in the heart of the High Street due to it’s location.
“I’m currently speaking to the authorities about getting a pedestrian corridor opened so we can get people up to the top of the street and we can hold the Christmas light switch-on.
“I’m trying to do that, there will be an announcement later today about the switch-on.”
Second fire on Leven High Street this month
The blaze is the second to strike Leven’s High Street this month.
On November 8, a nearby Poundstretcher on the street was destroyed in a fire, which resulted in parts of the High Street being closed for days.
A spokesperson for Tayside Fire and Rescue said: “We got a call about a fire on Leven High Street at 9.58pm.
“Six appliances were sent to the scene.
“We remained in attendance until 2.21pm on Saturday. It is not yet known if anyone was injured.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 10.15pm on Friday, 25 November, 2022, officers were called to a report of a fire at a derelict building on High Street, Leven.
“Emergency services attended and local road closures were put in place by the council.
“Inquiries are ongoing to establish the cause of the fire.”
Conversation