Halbeath's 19th-century Hotel Roma building gutted by fire

More than 20 firefighters from across Fife were drafted to tackle a huge blaze which broke out at an empty restaurant in Halbeath on Thursday night.

Published in the Courier : 04.05.12
Published online : 04.05.12 @ 08.39am

Hotel Roma was said to be ''well alight'' when two fire engines arrived on the scene at around 8pm, so another two engines were scrambled from Lochgelly before an aerial ladder platform was sent from Kirkcaldy.
Dozens of police were sent in to cordon off Main Street as crowds gathered to watch the drama unfold.
Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus trained four jets of water at the derelict building, but they were ordered not to go in after the structure was deemed unsafe.
Station manager at Dunfermline Dave Wishart, who was leading efforts to put out the flames, said: ''I knew right away we couldn't commit firefighters to enter the premises due to the state of the building so we've had to tackle the fire from the outside.

''There would have been a huge danger of firefighters falling through the floor if they'd gone in.''
The alarm was raised at 7.45pm by Armando Brandi, owner of the chip shop across the road. He saw smoke pouring from the windows of the building.
His son, Carmine, said: ''There was a lot of black smoke. You could see that it was a bad fire.''

Daniel Cross, who lives in the cottage next door to the building, arrived at the scene to find he had no access to his home.
''When I arrived back from work the road was closed. I could see the smoke coming from Hotel Roma.
''I was worried it would spread to my house but they won't let me anywhere near it to see what's happening. I don't know whether I'll get home tonight.''

Neighbour Linda Durret said: ''I thought it was the chip shop at first but when I came out it was obvious that there was a big fire at Hotel Roma.
''It's a shame really, because it's a listed building. It was built in 1891. It's really quite sad to see it burn down.''
An investtigation into the cause of the blaze is under way.

Remember that a Fiisk Assessment must be carried out by a Competent person under The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005