Major blaze rips through former Edinburgh department store undergoing hotel conversion

Fire crews in Edinburgh battled a large blaze early Thursday morning that engulfed a historic building on Princes Street, causing thick black smoke to pour across the city's skyline. The alarm was raised around 4am, triggering a major emergency response, according to the Mirror.

"Firefighters have been tackling a major blaze within a historic building on the busy shopping area of Princes Street in Edinburgh." The building was identified by irishstar.com as the former Debenhams department store, which was in the midst of a major renovation to be turned into a luxury Zedwell hotel. Emergency services cordoned off the street in Edinburgh's New Town as firefighters worked to control the ferocious blaze.

2 sources

Sky NewsFirefighters tackle major blaze at historic building on Edinburgh's Princes Streetirishstar.comHistoric Edinburgh building on Princes Street engulfed in fire during hotel renovation

Social media footage showed flames and dense smoke rising above the city center, with authorities urging the public to avoid the area. The fire broke out in the early hours, ireland-live.ie reported, and crews remained on scene through the morning.

ireland-live.ieFirefighters tackle blaze on Edinburgh’s Princes Street

"A massive fire broke out in the early hours of Thursday morning at a historic building on Princes Street in Edinburgh, Scotland." The incident is still developing, the Mirror noted, and no injuries have been confirmed at this stage. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.