Police and the fire brigade were last night still trying to pinpoint the cause of a huge fire which ruined six businesses and two homes in an Aberdeenshire.
More than 50 firefighters battled to put out the blaze at Lethenty Mill, north of Inverurie after it broke out around 4.20am on Thursday.
And yesterday the fire and rescue service said it had taken almost 22 hours to extinguish the blaze, with firefighters still tackling pockets of heat until 2am yesterday.
A spokesman for the brigade said: “The investigations are still ongoing with the fire investigation team at the moment.
“Our night shift crew left at about 1.50am-2am, and another two were up today just to check for hot spots.”
Police said inquiries were “ongoing”.
Business owners have described the Garioch mill as a “community of craftsmen” which will be hard to replicate.
At least six firms were affected by the blaze, including Lethenty Cabinetmakers, Cinecosse, Nina’s Apartment, Lethenty Mill Furniture, Joss Engineering and Jim King Autotune.
Classic vehicles, rally cars, antique furniture and filming equipment worth hundreds of thousands of pounds were destroyed.
Trevor Joss, of Joss Engineering, said he had lost “thousands of pounds worth” of equipment but added: “We’ll rise from the ashes.”
Site owner Allan Fyfe’s home and business, Lethenty Mill Furniture, were both affected.
The 67-year-old said: “If you rely on a mobile phone, if you can’t get it for circumstances beyond your control you are kind of stuck, so I have still got to find phone numbers, addresses, all that kind of stuff is in there smouldering.”
Councillor for Inverurie and District, Bryan Stuart, said: “It has nurtured a lot of businesses over the years. It is devastating for folk, it is kind of like flooding – it ruins everything.
“I certainly hope they can rebuild the mill.”
SNP Gordon MP and former first minister Alex Salmond praised the firefighters for working “tirelessly” to tackle the huge blaze.
He said: “It is a great loss to the local community and I hope it can be restored and businesses returned.”
Elsewhere fire crews were called to a house fire in Kinellar, just off the B979 Kirkton of Skene-Kinellar road yesterday at 11.25am.
Ten firefighters battled to get the blaze under control, and the fire was extinguished by 12.30pm.
