The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Probe after woman dies in St Andrews house fire
TRAGEDY: Police say they don’t believe the blaze was suspicious
An investigation has been launched after a fire killed a woman in her St Andrews home.
Brenda Cowie perished following the blaze at her end terrace property on Hamilton Avenue.
The 63-year-old, also known by the name of Brenda Foster, could not be saved despite emergency services arriving within minutes of the alarm being raised.
Neighbours were quick to pay tribute to their friend, with Ian Connah saying: “It’s really sad news. The windows to her house were all open and you could see there was a fair bit of smoke damage.
“I knew her since the 1970s. She was from Edinburgh or Glasgow before and worked in The Niblick as a waitress back then.
“She couldn’t walk very far any more and would use one of those frames to help her. We would speak and say hello when we saw each other.”
Another resident, John Rennie, said: “She was a good neighbour. She had been here for about 14 years but couldn’t go much further than the shops these days.”
Emergency services were scrambled to the property at around 7.45am yesterday, with an ambulance arriving at the scene within a minute of the call being received.
Despite the best efforts of police, fire and ambulance personnel, Ms Cowie was found dead inside the house.
A probe has now been launched involving both police and fire investigators, though from an early stage Police Scotland has stated that it does not believe the blaze to be suspicious.
A spokesman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “We were alerted at 7.43am to reports of a fire at a house in Hamilton Avenue, St Andrews.
“Operations control immediately mobilised two fire appliances and firefighters wearing breathing apparatus extinguished the flames.
“Sadly, a woman, the only person within the property, died.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “The death and fire are being investigated but are not being considered suspicious at this time, and a report will be sent to the procurator fiscal.”
jowatson@thecourier.co.uk