Fire crews raced to battle a large blaze at Fife Zoo on Saturday, the second since the animal park opened in 2019.
The alarm was raised at around 12:30pm on Saturday at the zoo in Cupar. No casualties were reported, the Scottish Fire and Rescue service said.
It is the second fire at the zoo since it first opened in 2019 after a blaze took hold in July last year.
No one from Fife Zoo was immediately available for comment.
A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson: “We were alerted at 12.32pm on Sunday, July 18 to reports of a building fire at Birniefield, Collessie, Fife.
“Operations Control mobilised four appliances to the scene, where a fire was affecting a barn, a caravan and a car.
“There are no reported casualties at this time.”
Locals reacted online after the fire was first reported, saying they hoped the animals and visitors would be safe.
Garry Cunningham said: “Not again, hope all animals staff and visitors are safe.”
In an update to customers Fife Zoo said it would be closed for the rest of the day.
“Unfortunately due to an incident on site, we will be closed for the rest of the day,” the owners said.
Second fire at Fife Zoo in a year
After a fire last year the zoo was able to reopen after 10 days, with locals rushing to offer to help owners Briony Taylor and Michael Knight.
The fire destroyed the park’s soft play centre just days after it was able to reopen from lockdown in 2020.
The indoor centre was still closed to the public, but around 30 car-loads of people had to be evacuated as staff rescued animals from their enclosures.
Speaking after the fire then, co-owner Briony said she and Michael were thankful that all of the animals survived but explained they were both grieving over what they had lost.
“This is our livelihoods and we’ve also lost a lot of personal stuff,” she said.
“It’s quite difficult for us just now.”
‘This is our livelihoods’: Heartbroken Fife Zoo owners speak out following devastating blaze