Fire rages through historic building in UK city centre

The building was a listed UNESCO site

The fire broke out in the early hours of Thursday morning (9 July) with the incident attracting a large emergency service response.

The incident happened on the upper floors of 109-111 Princes Street in central Edinburgh.

The BBC reports that the fire broke out at around 3am in a derelict building next to the old Debenhams building, a UNESCO listed building.

Viral footage has been circulating online showing the large plumes of smoke across the Scottish capital's skyline.

Meanwhile, images have shown most of the inside of the building hollowed out completely.

The building in question. Credit: Getty.

The fire broke out not far from Edinburgh Castle and the city's old town.

At about 9am, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said crews were dampening down hot spots.

A spokesperson said: "Operations control mobilised six appliances and two height appliances plus supporting resources to the scene and firefighters worked through the early hours of the morning the contain and extinguish the flames.

"Crews continue to extinguish and dampen down hotspots and will be in attendance for some time."

Locals are being told to expect disruption to bus and tram services in the city.

Scottish Citylink said this morning: "Due to a building fire, Princes Street in Edinburgh is currently closed at the moment and is unable to be served.

Back in 2023, another department store, Jenners, was hollowed out by a fire on the same road.