A fire forced the evacuation of one of Perth’s largest employers.
Staff had to leave their desks at the Aviva Insurance site at Pitheavlis after fire alarms sounded at around 3.30pm.
When Tayside Fire and Rescue crews arrived on the scene, they found heavy smoke-logging on one of the floors within the company’s main building.
Additional units were called for as firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entered the building to pinpoint the location of the fire.
The speedy response saw the blaze contained within its room of origin and prevented it from spreading any further within the building.
”When we arrived the premises had already been fully evacuated by Aviva and every member of staff had been accounted for,” area manager Ross Haggart told The Courier.
”First on the scene were appliances from Dunkeld and Coupar Angus, who had been stationed at Perth Station as local units were in operation elsewhere.
”When they arrived they found smoke logging one of the floors and requested additional units from Auchterarder and Dundee.
”In all there were five units on the scene, together with a command unit.
”Four firefighters entered the building using breathing apparatus and they quickly had the fire extinguished.
”It was a good and speedy response.”
Crews remained on the scene for some time to ventilate the building, which involved the removal of some of its windows, and to assess the extent of the smoke damage.
Aviva, Britain’s biggest insurer, employs around 1,400 across the Pitheavlis site.