More than 80 firefighters have been battling through the night to save what they can of Woodmill High School in Dunfermline, which has been ravaged by fire.
Initial reports of the blaze filtered through shortly after 5pm on Sunday evening and the severity of the situation quickly became apparent as huge plumes of black smoke could be seen for miles around.
It is understood that the Department for Additional Support building and parts of the dining hall were worst hit to begin with, but a change of wind direction late last night led to the main building also being affected and suffering significant damage.
Education chiefs are due to hold an emergency meeting at nearby St Columba’s High at 9.30am on Monday morning to discuss the next steps, with the school closed to all pupils today and possibly for more days this week as the scale of the damage is assessed.
Video footage above this article shows the extent of damage at the school as firefighters continue the clear-up operation.
Fifteen fire appliances, including specialist height appliances, were at the scene at the peak of the blaze overnight.
Members of the public have been warned to stay away, although the fire has been extinguished.
Woodmill High rector Sandy McIntosh could hardly contain his disbelief at the heartbreaking turn of events, happening just a week after staff returned for the new term.
“We are all utterly devastated by what has happened to our school,” he said.
“I will be meeting with our teachers and school staff this morning, along with staff from the Education Service and wider Fife Council to put in place plans for our young people.
“My heartfelt thanks go to the Emergency Services for all they have done to save our school.
“Updates will be provided to our parents through Groupcall as soon as we have more information.”
Fife Council’s education convener, SNP councillor Fay Sinclair, described the situation as devastating.
“Fife Council’s emergency resilience team is meeting this morning to discuss options going forward and plans for relocating DAS pupils are already under way,” she said.
“From what I’ve seen from the outside of the building this morning, all pupils are going to have to be accommodated elsewhere as the damage is throughout the school.”
Mrs Sinclair said information would be communicated to pupils and parents as soon as possible but added: “Firefighters are still on site and for the moment there is no access to the school to assess the damage.”
Warning there would not be an easy solution, she said: “Rest assured that everything is being done to minimise the disruption to education and support those affected.”
Police Scotland officers have been helping the other emergency services as the operation continues.
Deputy Assistant Chief Officer Stuart Stevens is the incident commander.
He said: “This is a very large and complex incident and our firefighters continue to work in difficult conditions to extinguish the flames.
“The fire has taken hold within the main building of the school, however we are working around and within the building to limit fire spread and extinguish the flames.
“This will be a prolonged incident and our advice to nearby residents and members of the public is to avoid the area to allow access for emergency service vehicles, and close doors and windows due to high volumes of smoke.”
There are no reported casualties.
The school will be closed today and Fife Council will provide further updates when available.
A number of roads have also been closed in and around the area as the emergency services continue their efforts.
Clunie Road between Shields Road and the Bute Crescent junction; Dunn Crescent between Shields Road and the Inchkeith Drive junction; MacBeath Road between Shields Road and the Skye Road junction; Shields Road between Woodmill Road and Allan Crescent, and Woodmill Road between Linburn Road and the Garvock Bank junction at the mini roundabout were all shut.
Scottish Water warned people living close to the school to expect low pressure or no water at all while hydrants were in use by the fire service.
“We appreciate your patience and understanding,” said a spokesperson.
