BBCA fire at a derelict leisure centre in Londonderry is being treated as arson.
The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) said the fire at the former Lisnagelvin leisure centre in the Waterside on Thursday is believed to have been started deliberately.
A local councillor told BBC News NI that young people had repeatedly been breaking into the site and children had been seen going into the building on the morning of the fire.
The local council, which owns the site, has now pledged to work with statutory agencies to re-secure the site.
Five fire appliances attended the blaze in the Waterside area of the city on Thursday and extinguished the blaze.
Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used one jet to extinguish the fire.
The incident was dealt with by 17:58 BST and the scene was later handed over to Derry City and Strabane District Council.
Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle’s North West Today programme on Friday, DUP councillor Niree McMorris said young people had been repeatedly breaking into the site, especially at this time of year.
She said that on the morning of the fire, she had reported to the council that children as young as nine had been seen going into the building.
“Then, when I heard there was a fire later that day I was obviously very concerned that there could still be children in there, but thankfully that didn’t prove to be the case,” she said.
Previous anti-social behaviour
The leisure centre, which opened in 1980, closed in 2015 and has been derelict ever since.
Ms McMorris said some residents near the former leisure complex had previously raised concerns with her about anti-social behaviour, including young people taking drugs, at the site.
The councillor said she would be meeting the police on Friday to fully assess the damage.
She understands the fire caused some damage to the roof.
Ms McMorris said the building needs to be redeveloped and said giving it a new lease of life would be beneficial for the wider area.
DCSDC confirmed it was made aware of a fire at the vacant site of the former Lisnagelvin Leisure Centre on Thursday afternoon.
A spokesperson said the council would continue to work with the relevant statutory agencies and would put into place plans to re-secure the site.
