Man serious after Brechin flat blaze

Firefighters smash their way in to rescue man from flames

The emergency services fought to save a Brechin father’s life yesterday after the 51-year-old was rescued from a fire in his flat.

Firefighters in full breathing apparatus smashed the windows on the ground floor flat in River Street, carrying the man – named locally as 51-year-old Ian ‘Graham’ Stewart – to one of two waiting ambulances.

After a fraught 40 minutes the family were told “he had a pulse” and the man was taken to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, where he is said to still be in a serious condition. It is not yet known how the fire started. A neighbour told the Courier: “It all happened so fast. I was standing in the kitchen and I could smell the smoke coming in through the door.”

He saw the man being rescued, adding: “The firefighters were amazing.”

A Brechin father-of-two is fighting for his life after being rescued from his burning flat by firefighters.

The man – named locally as 51-yearold Ian ‘Graham’ Stewart – was plucked from his ground-floor flat by firefighters in full breathing apparatus and placed into one of two waiting ambulances where paramedics worked to keep him alive.

After 40 minutes Mr Stewart’s family were told “he had a pulse” and the man was rushed to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, where he is believed to still be in a serious condition.

Four fire engines, two ambulances and several police vehicles attended the blaze in the town’s River Street, which started shortly after 4pm yesterday.

A small crowd gathered as firefighters used two hosereels to extinguish the fire which gutted the ground floor flat and left the street smelling strongly of smoke. The windows of the flat were smashed during the rescue and a police van remained at the scene to secure the property. It is not yet known how the fire started.

A neighbour said: “It all happened so fast. I was standing in the kitchen and I could smell the smoke coming in through the door. I knew then it had to be a fire.”

He said the fire brigade rescued Mr Stewart from the burning building before extinguishing the flames. “The firefighters were amazing,” he added.

Mr Stewart had lived in the Brechin property for around 10 years.

Another neighbour said she knew Mr Stewart by sight and would see him on the local bus.

“The funny thing was I went up the road to the shop and when I came back 20 minutes or so later, there were the fire engines and the police were there too. It was all very quick.”

Customers in the Bridgend Bar, only 100 metres or so from the fire, said they hadn’t seen the rescue, but had gathered in the pub to find out more about what had happened.