Firefighters tackling basement fire at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary

Emergency services remain in attendance at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary after tackling a fire within the building’s basement.

Four appliances were mobilised to the scene after the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service were alerted to a smell of burning at 1.30pm on Wednesday.

The fire has since been extinguished, but crews remain in the area.

Some areas of the hospital have been evacuated with staff still unable to return.

A spokesperson for NHS Grampian said they expected fire crews would be leaving the site “imminently” after making the area safe.

“The area of the hospital affected contained no inpatients, and there’s no injuries.”

A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “We were alerted at 1.30pm on Wednesday, August 28, to reports of a smell of burning at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

“Operations Control mobilised four appliances to the scene, where firefighters were met by a fire within the building’s basement.

“Crews have since extinguished the fire but remain working to make the area safe.

“There are no reported casualties.”

North East & Tayside

Operations cancelled at hospitals after lightning strike damages equipment

A lightning strike has caused damage to electrical systems in Aberdeen resulting a number of surgeries being postponed.

It comes after a lightning strike affected the central decontamination unit (CDU) at Woodend Hospital, whilst a failure with the ventilation system at Foresterhill had caused a problem with the CDU at ARI.

Surgical equipment is now being sent to NHS Tayside facilities to be sterilized and prepared before its use for urgent operations which will be carried as normal.