| Crews from across the city were last night involved in fighting the flames, in the roof-space of the flat above The Counting House bar at the corner of Meadowside and Reform Street.
Three hose jets, four pumps and six sets of breathing apparatus were all needed as the firefighters battled the flames for over four hours. Two aerial ladders and a command support unit were also used.
Customers at the pub reported smelling smoke shortly before 10pm and alerted the authorities.
Firefighters were soon on the scene to tackle the blaze, which spread rapidly into the flat’s roof space.
Station manager Craig Thomson, from Macalpine Road, said firefighters were forced to fight the flames internally before ventilating the area by opening skylights.
Firefighters did not leave the scene until around 2.30am this morning and a police presence has remained outside the building.
Today a joint investigation into the cause of the blaze, which is thought to be suspicious, was launched by Tayside Police and Tayside Fire and Rescue.
A police spokesman said, “There is a joint investigation being carried out this morning to establish the full set of circumstances, but it is certainly being treated as suspicious at this time.”
Meanwhile, staff at The Counting House were surveying the damage.
The bar was unable to open as normal this morning, although it is understood management were hoping it would be ready for business later in the day.
Around 70 customers had to be evacuated from the building last night as firefighters battled the flames and police also closed the roads around Albert Square to all traffic.
A spokeswoman for Tayside Fire and Rescue said today that The Counting House had suffered some damage as a result of efforts to extinguish the blaze.
She said, “There was some water damage to the ground floor of the building. Some of the water must have come all the way down.”
The adjacent Lloyds TSB bank was unaffected and was open for business as normal. |
