Residents begin to return home after flat fire evacuation
Some spent night with friends
SOME residents have been returning to their flats after being evacuated from their homes after a fire began to spread at Archer House in Gosport.
However those living closest to the first floor property where the fire started have had to spend the night with friends as they await for fire damage to be repaired and for their homes to be made safe to return.
Natasha Osgood, 44, said: ‘I could smell the smoke and when I looked out I could see the flames coming out of the window of the flat.
‘We were all evacuated and I was able to return at about 7pm last night (April 14). However there are still six flats which people can’t return to. One of my neighbours can’t return and so we put him up last night to help him out.
‘He’s hacked off he can’t get back in his flat. My home wasn’t damaged but everything still smells of smoke.’
Another resident who asked only to be known as John was able to return to his flat this morning.
He said: ‘I’ve been allowed back in but people in the flats next to me have not been allowed to return. I only moved in three months ago and the whole place now stinks of smoke.
‘I was in my front room when the fire started and it was only when someone banged on my door and told me to get out that I realised there was a fire’.
Following the incident, emergency services said they were working with Gosport Borough Council to provide temporary accommodation for evacuated residents.
One resident who asked to remain anonymous said: ‘I live next door to where the fire started. I was allowed back in the property to get some of my stuff and there’s a lot of damage to my flat.
Fire investigation officers and police officers returned to the scene of the fire today (April 15) but have said investigations into the cause of the blaze are still ongoing.
Following the rescue of the male occupant of the flat, firefighters returned to the property to carry his two pet guinea pigs to safety.
Gosport police, who were also involved in the rescue operation, posted a message on social media which said: ‘Animal lovers will be relieved to hear that after ensuring that all human residents had been evacuated, and that the fire had been brought under control.