Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Residents trapped as tenement goes on fire
RESIDENTS of a fire-hit tenement were trapped inside their homes as flames and smoke spread throughout their close.
Fire crews were called to Forth Crescent in Menzieshill after a sudden blaze broke out early in the afternoon.
Those in the building were told to stay inside their homes as fire crews used hose reel jets to subdue the fire. Thick and acrid smoke filled the building and hung in the air for days after Friday’s fire, leaving walls and floors badly charred.
One resident, who preferred to remain anonymous, said the incident has left her feeling unsafe in her own flat.
“I’m just so frightened,” she said. “I’m scared to be in my own home on my own, I had to stay with my son for a little while because it was just so bad here.
“I’m panicking all the time, I need to keep the windows open when I’m at home.
“There are families here – a three-month-old baby is up the stairs and they were trapped inside by the fire.”
The resident claims the fire erupted in just a few minutes, catching many residents completely off guard.
“I had been out in the landing five minutes before I heard the alarms going off,” she added.
“At first I thought that it was just them going off for no reason, like they were broken, but I opened the door to check.
“I honestly thought it was nighttime, that’s how thick the smoke was.
“I’m 54 and I have underlying conditions so I’m sheltering right now. The smoke was so bad my legs almost buckled underneath me.”
The terrified woman quickly called the emergency services, who arrived within minutes.
Firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze in just over an hour and no causalities were reported.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said: “We received a call at 1.45pm to a fire in a block of flats on Forth Crescent. Three appliances, one hose reel jet and one PPV fan were used to put it out, and the end call was put in at 2.55pm.”
Police Scotland are not treating the incident as suspicious.
A spokesman said: “Officers were called to assist SFRS at the scene at around 1.50pm on Friday, however there wasn’t any further police action required. The fire was not treated as suspicious.”