A fire has caused substantial damage to the interior of the former Good Shepherd Convent in Cork.
The blaze, which occurred in Sunday's Well overnight, has been extinguished and there are no reports of injuries.
The alarm was raised just after midnight.
Second Officer with Cork City Fire Brigade Victor Shine said: "During the event, there was a floor collapse in the western end of the section of the building that was on fire, bringing two substantial, cast-iron steel bathtubs down from the first floor to the ground floor, with the potential of causing catastrophic injuries to firefighting crews."
Two crews will remain at the site of the former convent, orphanage and Magdalene laundry for the forseeable future.
Mr Shine told RTÉ's News at One that it is not the first time the fire service has been called to an incident at the building.
"We’ve had numerous fires, probably going back to as late as 2012, in that property. But there’s very little left now of the internal structure. It’s basically the brickwork that’s on the main structure is what’s left.
"It is very frustrating. It’s taking up a huge amount of resources from Cork city when these fires occur.
"They have to be dealt with, they can’t just be left to burn because it is a structure that needs to be protected.
"If it was left to burn, you’d have total collapse of that property, and it’s such a magnificent structure that it needs to be preserved for the history of Cork," Mr Shine added.
He said that negotiations with the owners of the building on stronger security measures are ongoing.
The cause of the blaze will be the subject of a garda investigation, but it is likely to be treated as a malicious event.
The dangerous buildings section of the fire service is to carry out an assessment at the Victorian red-brick structure, built in 1881.
Mr Shine warned there is a risk of more fires in the coming months.
"Going into the summer season now, when the gorse materials start to dry out, there’s potential for bigger fires around that area, causing it to spread and so on.
"But it is vandalism to a high level that is causing this. These buildings don’t set themselves on fire," he said.
Additional reporting Jennie O'Sullivan
