Three rescued after alarm fails in flats fire
Residents are woken up by their neighbours
Frightened Perth residents had to be woken by their neighbours during a flat block blaze after the building’s fire alarm system failed to go off.
Four fire crews attended the scene at Monart Road in the early hours last Wednesday to tackle the flames, which broke out apparently after a faulty fridge freezer caught fire.
One terrified resident said a neighbour woke them up shortly after the fire started at 1am by banging on their door.
Three people were rescued from the block by firefighters just after 1.15am, but one 22-year-old man was taken to PRI for treatment to minor injuries which police said were “unrelated” to the incident.
The incensed resident is now calling for answers from the building’s management company, Edinburgh-based Charles White, as to why the fire alarm did not go off, further endangering the lives of residents.
They said: “The fire alarms failed to go off and the smoke vents failed to open at the time, meaning the residents were put at greater danger and had to spend longer in the building waking others rather than escaping the building.
“We were just running around banging on people’s doors and screaming through the letterboxes that there was a fire.
“I phoned the fire service at 1.13am and then they turned up and the fire alarm went off about half an hour later.
“One flat become extensively damaged and is now essentially only a shell of what it was, as well as serious damage to the flats above and below.
“Thankfully, no one was harmedand it has since been discovered that the fire was caused by a faulty fridge freezer.
“However, over 24 hours later the residents have received no explanation as to why the fire alarms didn’t work and no reassurance that they would work now if necessary.”
A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “We were alerted at 1.14am on Wednesday, May 27 to reports of a flat fire at Monart Road, Perth.
“Operations control mobilised four appliances to the scene where crews extinguished the flames.
“Three people were led to safety by firefighters but no injuries were reported at the time.
“Crews left the scene after ensuring the area was made safe.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Officers in Perth were called to reports of a fire within a property on Monart Road around 1.20am on Wednesday, May 27.
“Residents in neighbouring properties were evacuated as a precaution.
“Nobody was injured as a result of the fire.
“A 22-year-old man