The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Drama in town centre as café fire spreads into flats
Lucky escape for workers after member of staff discovered blaze in kitchen at rear of building and called 999
Workers had a lucky escape after fire broke out at a busy café and takeaway in St Andrews town centre yesterday afternoon.
Fire crews rushed to the scene in South Street shortly after 3pm after reports of smoke coming from the St Andrews Shawarma House fast food outlet.
In all, five fire appliances, including an extended reach vehicle were scrambled from Cupar, St Andrews and Tayport stations.
Police closed South Street for several hours to allow firefighters to bring the blaze under control.
The alarm was raised after fire broke out in the ground-floor kitchen area of the business, before spreading to vacant flats on the first floor.
Staff from a number of adjoining businesses and shops were evacuated as a precaution.
Hatun Daj, an employee at Shawarma House, was the first to call the emergency services after discovering the fire.
He said: “I was first to raise the alarm after a fire started in the kitchen at the rear of the building.
“Thankfully nobody was injured and staff made their way out of the front of the building immediately after the fire was discovered.
“It later spread to the unoccupied flats above the shop.
“Thankfully no one was living in them otherwise it could have been much worse.”
Mr Daj added that the blaze comes as a huge blow to the business, which had only opened four months ago.
“It’s such a shame as the business was popular and always busy.
“We don’t know the full extent of the damage yet but the downstairs area is all black from smoke, which is terrible news.”
A Scottish Fire and Rescue spokesperson said: “We received a call at 3.13pm reporting a fire at the town centre building in South Street, St Andrews.
“Five fire appliances were dispatched from Cupar, St Andrews and Tayport stations to tackle the blaze.”
South Street remained closed into the evening to assist the emergency services as firefighters continued to dampen down in the upper floor of the building.
Local diversions for motorists were also set up by police as the clean-up operation continued.