An Aberdeen charity is “open for business” despite fire fighters battling a huge blaze at its headquarters just a day ago.
Brian Taylor, chief executive of Somebody Cares at Hazlehead, revealed last night that no food, furniture or clothing for the city’s neediest families had been destroyed in Thursday night’s fire.
He said that an outbuilding – known as Gardener’s Cottage – had been ruined, but that the flames had not spread to any vital storage space.
He said the situation could have been much worse was it not for the valiant efforts of the fire service.
“If the wind had been blowing in the opposite direction we would have been in trouble,” he said.
The fire started at around 7.45pm on Thursday night, and was only noticed when a passer-by reported seeing smoke and flames coming from the former Dobbies Garden Centre site.
Three fire crews – one from the North Anderson Drive station and two from Central – were called to what was described as an “extensive” blaze and battled to stop it spreading to the charity’s main warehouse.
Fire crews were still extinguishing small pockets of flames around the site until just before midnight.
There were fears that goods were being stored in the outbuilding.
However, Mr Taylor insisted nothing had been damaged.
“Nothing has been destroyed. It’s business as normal,” he said.
Somebody Cares was established in 2002 and helps people struggling to make ends meet across Aberdeen.
As part of its Christmas appeal it distributed more than 60 tonnes of food.
Mr Taylor said he was disappointed that someone had deliberately targeted the charitable venture again – it was the victim of a similar crime in 2012.
Last night, station manager Gordon Riddel warned of the dangers of such reckless behaviour.
“Deliberate fires draw resources from the city which could mean a delay for life threatening incidents,” he said.
“We shall continue to work with our Police Scotland colleagues to ensure each incident is fully investigated, as much intelligence is gathered and that perpetrators are caught.
“If you have information about a deliberate fire call Police Scotland on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”