Fife town at a standstill as school building destroyed by huge blaze

Police are appealing for witnesses following an “unexplained” fire at Inverkeithing’s former primary school.

No one was injured in the fire but one person living nearby was taken to hospital as a precaution for smoke inhalation.

Inverkeithing has been brought to a standstill on Tuesday morning following a massive blaze at the town’s old primary school.

Fire crews have worked throughout the night to bring the fire under control.

At its peak 40 firefighters were battling the blaze at the derelict building.

Sections of the town centre remain closed to traffic.

There will be no vehicle access between Hill Street and Boreland Road until at least 10am.

By Tuesday afternoon there was still no access to the car park in Hill Street as the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service continued to work on the scene.

Two fire engines and one aerial appliance and a water bowser are still on Roods Road.

The fire has now largely been extinguished.

However, a few pockets of fire remain which crews are currently tackling.

At its height up to 40 firefighters and nine fire engines were mobilised to the scene after the alarm was raised at 9.20pm on Monday.

Crews worked throughout the night to tackle the fire.

Local senior officer for Fife, Stirling and Clackmannanshire, Roddie Keith, is the officer in charge of the incident.

“This has undoubtedly been a challenging and protracted incident, and there is still work to do as our crews remain on scene this morning,” he said.

Mr Keith added there would be disruption around Inverkeithing and he advised the public to avoid the area at this time.

He added his thanks to the team involved.

“I would like to thank our firefighters on the ground and our operations control firefighters for working effectively with our partners throughout the night and into today,” he said.

Detective Inspector Kelly McEwan of Dunfermline CID  thanked the local community for their co-operation in helping officers with road closures.

“The fire is currently being treated as unexplained and we are working with our colleagues in the Scottish Fire Service to investigate the full circumstances.

“We would like to speak to anyone who may have seen anything suspicious in the area, both before and after the fire took hold, or who has relevant information relating to our inquiries.”

She urged anyone with information to contact Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident number 4020 of Monday 19th November.