The Courier’s Graeme Strachan was the first reporter on the scene as fire destroyed Morgan Academy in 2001. In the third of our special articles marking the 10th anniversary of the blaze, Graeme looks back on one of the biggest stories of his career.
I had only been in the job 18 months when the call came into the newsdesk around 5.15pm that a fire had broken out in the roof of Morgan Academy.
I was 20, eager and keen to impress, which is probably why I was in early, getting ready to start a 5.30-1am shift.
The events that were to unfold were played out on a windy spring evening not far from our Kingsway base.
When I got there the fire was spreading quickly, with thick clouds of smoke engulfing Forfar Road.
I watched on as firefighters looked like they had brought it under control until increasing high winds meant they were soon fighting a losing battle to control the flames.
The small crowd there when I arrived soon swelled to over 1000 people, cordons were put up, and fire appliances appeared to be everywhere.
Ten water tenders, three aerial ladder platforms, an emergency tender, a breathing apparatus support unit, a command and control unit and a mobile workshop were all in attendance.
Suddenly the clock tower disappeared into the centre of the flames, followed by a loud explosion.
Surrounded by pupils whose course work had now turned to ashes, I made a beeline towards city council chief executive Alex Stephen who had arrived on the scene.
Mr Stephen gave a brief statement about the contingency plans and I went in search of the police and firefighters for comment while keeping my then chief reporter up to date with the developing chaos.
Just after midnight I headed back to the Kingsway to write the story that Courier readers would wake up to.To see more on our special series on the Morgan Academy fire, click here.