One of the oldest buildings in Fife is creating a right royal and modern headache for firefighters.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is having to rush full pelt under blue lights to Culross Palace on a regular basis.
And they know it will in all probability be another false alarm at the National Trust for Scotland property, which was built in the late 16th Century and early 17th Century by merchant Sir George Bruce.
Andy Bennett from Dunfermline Community Fire Station estimated there had been 10 or 11 call-outs to the historic building in the last week alone.
“We are having a real problem with Culross Palace, we are never away from it,” he said. “It is just a poor, poor system.”
Every time the alarm goes three crews, from Dunfermline and across the Clackmannanshire border in Alloa, hare to the historic village.
Not only could this be taking vital services away from a real emergency, but the fact engines are pelting along west Fife roads “to what we know is a false alarm” is a danger to the public’s safety as well.
“If we could put a price on every attendance and bill them they would get that fire alarm fixed pretty quick,” he said.
Councillor Alice McGarry pointed out: “When you head out attending to false alarms, people could be burning to death.”
South West Fife area committee pledged to take the issue up with the trust on behalf of the fire service, to try to solve the problem
Meanwhile, the service is considering a new regime of sending one appliance, adhering to the road speed limit.
A spokesman for the the National Trust for Scotland said: “We upgraded our fire safety systems at Culross Palace a few months ago and unfortunately there have been some teething problems, resulting in a number of false alarms.
“We’re working with our suppliers at the moment to resolve these issues and apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
Across the south west Fife area there actually had been a reduction in the number of false alarms the fire service received from last April to September.
