Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
OAP’s daughter in plea after blaze ‘nightmare’
THE daughter of a Dundee pensioner says her “worst nightmare came true” when a fire ripped through her father’s home.
David Wilson, 82, slept soundly while the blaze destroyed the ground floor of his home last week.
Partially deaf, he had no idea about the potentially lethal situation unfolding on Tuesday morning until his fire alarm loudly sounded.
His daughter, Gayle Culross, firmly believes her dad would have died if the alarm hadn’t been installed in his Macalpine Road home.
Gayle, from Forfar, said: “When we got the call to say that my dad’s house was on fire, it was our worst nightmare come true. When I got there I was greeted by a really scary sight with fire engines, police and an ambulance.
“The fire took hold so quickly. I dread to think what could have happened.
“Thank goodness Dad got out when he did.”
Widower Mr Wilson is still in Ninewells Hospital, but is recovering well and hopes to be home in a few days.
Gayle is now warning others to check they have alarms correctly fitted and working properly.
It comes after a change in the law, requiring all households in Scotland to have interlinked fire alarms, which came into force in February.
Gayle said: “We are in absolutely no doubt that the smoke alarm saved Dad’s life.
“It doesn’t bear thinking about what could have been, had he not been woken up by the alarm.
“The speed at which the fire took hold was pretty scary and there’s not much left of the downstairs of his house.”
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service told Gayle the fire started in her father’s tumble dryer.
The appliance wasn’t working but was plugged in.
Gayle said: “As well as wanting people to make sure they have working smoke alarms, I would also ask people to be very careful with household appliances.
“My dad’s tumble dryer wasn’t going at the time but it still caught fire.”
After Mr Wilson was woken by the alarm, he was able to get himself downstairs, call 999 and then get safely out of the burning house.
Minutes later, flames had spread upstairs and were soon visible on the roof.
Gayle said the ground floor of her dad’s house was completely gutted in the fire.
She said: “It’s a real mess. He has also lost a lot of precious things such as photographs that can’t be replaced.
“He is still obviously in shock but he is doing OK.
“He’s alive, that’s the main thing. “Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the Scottish Ambulance Service were amazing beyond words and we are all really grateful for everything they did for us,” she added.