The fire broke out between Holyrood Road and the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, resulting in a thick column of black smoke engulfing the area. The smoke can be seen billowing over the city.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service reported they were called to deal with the incident at 12:35pm and are still present at the scene.
Three fire engines have arrived at the scene and are attempting to extinguish the flames in the courtyard near Holyrood road.
The service added that a substation began sparking prior to the fire.
— Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (@fire_scot) 4 июля 2019 г.
Whether anyone was injured or harmed is currently unknown but an ambulance response unit is present.
Police have sectioned off Holyrood Road as three fire crews work to put out the blaze.
— Historic Scotland (@welovehistory) July 4, 2019
The force tweeted: "We are assisting @fire_scot at a fire near #HolyroodRoad."
— Edinburgh Police (@EdinburghPolice) July 4, 2019
Those inside the parliament building itself said they could smell smoke, as posted by the co-convenor of the Scottish Young Greens on Twitter:
"We can smell it inside the Parliament building. Hope no one is hurt."
— Gillian Mackay (@Gillian_Mac11) July 4, 2019
Universities Scotland also tweeted that they had to leave their office as the police called for the evacuation of every building on Holyrood Road.
— Universities Scotland (@uni_scot) July 4, 2019
Hundreds of people so far have been evacuated.
— Neil Ogilvy (@Yvligo) July 4, 2019
