Firefighters have tackled a blaze at a historic mill in Lisburn.
A fire at the Hilden Mill building was reported to emergency services shortly before 6.30pm on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the NI Fire and Rescue Service said four pumps and an aerial appliance were sent to the scene.
Firefighters remained at the scene of the blaze in Co Antrim on Tuesday evening.
Hilden Mill has been abandoned since 2006, and was sold to an English developer in 2017.
Formerly the home of the Barbour Thread Factory, the historic building was damaged in an arson attack in 2021.
Saddened to see another fire at Hilden Mill tonight. However I’m glad to see my former colleagues Northern Ireland Fire ...
Posted by Robbie Butler on Tuesday 28 May 2024
Lagan Valley MLA Robbie Butler thanked firefighters for their efforts in a social media post on Tuesday evening, adding of his fears over the “loss of iconic buildings that we grew up with”.
Independent Lisburn and Castlereagh councillor Gary Hynds, who lives in the Hilden area, told The Irish News: “It is very worrying to see another fire at a building that is such an important link to the past. There’s concern that the Mill could be damaged even further, when we have been pushing for work to get started on restoring it.”
DUP councillor Jonathan Craig said: “The building was severely damaged in the last fire in 2021, and we are concerned that this fire will have caused even ore damage to what is already a building very much at risk.
“This is such an historically significant building for many families in Lagan Valley, as thousands of people worked there in its linen industry heyday. Unfortunately the site remains very unsafe and it’s an absolute disgrace that it remains in the state it is in.”