An ocular witness described seeing a ‘tornado of fire and smoke’ from the roof of the building
A teenager has been arrested for a fire in an old primary school in Perth.
An ocular witness described seeing a “tornado of fire and smoke” in the building of the Old Balkousie Elementary School in Muirton Place shortly after midnight on Sunday.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) sent six crews and two appliances high to the scene, and firefighters continued to fight the fire in the early hours.
An 18 -year -old has been arrested in relation to intentional fire.
Two teams and a height device remain on the scene on Sunday morning to carry out the damping work, said the SFRS.
It was not thought that there were victims, but a series of properties were evacuated as a precaution, said the Police of Scotland.
An eyewitness told BBC Scotland News: “I drove attacks around 01:30 and the roof had collapsed.
“There was a complete tornado of fire hype wrapping the building.
“The flames were forced to decrease approximately an hour later and the red brightness had almost completely gone around 03:30”.
He added that the staff in a local garage had provided coffee and water to emergency responders, while a nearby McDonald’s branch delivered food.
Dunkeld Road, Balkousie Street and Muirton Place were closed and drivers and pedestrians have been warned to avoid the area.
The nearby residents were warned to maintain their windows and doors closed because the smoke came from the scene.
The Bishousie Elementary School closed in 2023 when the students were transferred to the new Riverside primaries.
