A man has been charged with arson endangering life after the blazing roof of a pub collapsed in a pile of debris.
Flames were seen shooting from the smouldering wreckage of the terraced building at the Plough Bar, The Square, Hillsborough, Co Down, shortly after 1.30am on Saturday.
Crews, numbering some 50 firefighters battled for 2½ hours to contain the blaze, which developed in the roof space, but nobody was hurt.
Police said the accused, a 20-year-old, had been charged with a number of offences including arson and would appear at Lisburn Magistrates' Court today.
Station officer Martin McDonald said: "In one part of the building we had a total roof collapse and it damaged the floors below . . . Had it been an hour earlier there could have been an awful lot more people inside the premises and maybe some people who had been drinking may not have reacted as quickly."
Half the building was badly affected with lower floors smoke damaged. He said 15 people, mainly bar staff, had evacuated the premises quickly .
Fire crews were called from Belfast and across Co Down and a water pumping appliance doused the flames from above.
Mr McDonald added: "When we arrived seven minutes after receiving the call high winds hampered firefighters and we had great difficulty preventing the fire from spreading."
Meanwhile, fire crews were also called on Saturday morning to a fire at a tanning salon on the Woodstock Road in east Belfast. Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service's assistant group commander David Patton said an electrical fault may be to blame for the incident shortly after 11.30pm.
"Six shops in total were affected . . . but there was substantial damage to the tanning and beauty salon," he said.