Staff and customers were forced to flee from the burning building on David Street on Sunday, as clouds of vast smoke and flames tore through the building. The fire is believed to have originated in the kitchen area at around 2.30pm, and quickly spread to the takeaway and restaurant, which were both full of customers. The building was quickly evacuated and there were no major casualties, although three people were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.
Traffic on David Street ground to a halt as emergency services rushed to the scene, with four fire engines from Stonehaven, Inverbervie and Aberdeen tackling the blaze, and several ambulances and police cars were also in attendance.
The extent of the damage is not yet known, and the building will remain closed to the public until an investigation has been carried out. A spokesman for Aberdeenshire Council said: "We went to the site on Sunday after we were contacted by the fire and rescue service to help minimise any risk to the public.
"As a precaution, we erected temporary fencing at the back of the property to protect against falling loose rendering and harling. We expect the owners to be in touch with their insurers, although we will inspect the site again in coming days and would hope to remove the fencing as soon as possible to avoid inconvenience for local residents."
The incident echoes scenes on the same site 25 years ago, when fire ripped through and gutted the showroom and filling station of Stonehaven Motors, which used to occupy the site. Fire engines from Stonehaven, Inverbervie and Aberdeen also attended that blaze, which was described at the time as "Stonehaven's biggest fire for years". The walls of the showroom cracked with the heat from the fire, which had originated in the back office of the showroom, and the forecourt and petrol pumps had to be smothered with foam, as a precaution against underground tanks exploding.
Sunday's blaze is not being treated as suspicious by police.