Two family businesses were left devastated after a ferocious three-hour blaze “completely destroyed” the building they shared.
Fire crews were called to Station Road at Dyce as flames engulfed a fish and chip shop and an after school club.
Police have launched an investigation into the incident and have appealed to the public for information.
The owners of the two companies which shared the building – takeaway Sea Salt and Sole and J Puddleduck’s after school club – were left “traumatised” by the blaze.
No one was injured in the fire, which was discovered shortly after 4am yesterday.
Award-winning chef and owner of Sea Salt and Sole Rikki Pirie declined to comment, but his wife Gillian said he and his family were “devastated” by what had happened.
Despite only opening in November last year, Mr Pirie’s business quickly became hugely popular in Dyce, and in September it was nominated for the best newcomer accolade at the National Fish and Chip Awards 2016 – the only shop in Scotland to make the semi-finals.
Joanne Fowler, the owner of J Puddleduck’s after school club, said: “We’re pretty traumatised, it’s been all very shocking and hectic. We’re still trying to come up with a plan for what we’re going to do for tomorrow.
“We’ve not been allowed very close to the building as it’s still not safe, but apparently the building has been completely destroyed.
“We have a nursery on Victoria Street as well, our other premises, so we now have to put a proposal to the Care Inspectorate to see if we can use our spare room at the nursery for the short term, so we don’t have to let our parents down.
“We’ve got 30 children every day, from primaries one to seven. We’ll hopefully get somewhere rented in the interim as we wait for the building to be rebuilt.”
Graeme Hay, the fire service’s incident commander at the scene, said: “Upon arrival, we found a fire developing in the roof space and summoned more resources to tackle the fire as best we could.
“We got a height vehicle to take an aerial approach to it.
“It got into the roof space, and fires in the roof are inherently hard to tackle because obviously they’re built to keep water out.
“We couldn’t put crews into the building as there had been a partial structure collapse, so we were limited to fighting the fire from the outside.”
Mr Hay said it was too early in the investigation process to say whether the fire had been started deliberately.
He added: “The cause is absolutely open and under discussion at the moment.
“It seems to have started outside, in the bin storage area.
“The owner is naturally devastated by this, his business has gone up in smoke.
“There’s a child daycare company to the rear of the chip shop that has also been totally destroyed as well.”
Aberdeen Donside MSP Mark McDonald, who lives in Dyce, had previously tabled a motion in the Scottish Parliament to recognise the business achievements of Sea Salt and Sole.
He said: “To have achieved such prominent national recognition after such a short period of existence showed the quality of fish and chips being served up.
“I am sure the community of Dyce will be right behind the owners as they seek to rebuild and reopen.”
Police have urged anyone with information about the blaze to contact them on 101, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.