| Richard Blackmore (53) was sleeping in the bedroom of his second-floor flat in Cleghorn Street when he was abruptly awoken by his smoke detector activating.
He got up to find his escape route along the hallway and past the kitchen filled with smoke and immediately called 999.
Mr Blackmore got out through the smoke and waited for the arrival of the emergency services.
“I was woke up by the smoke alarm,” he said.
“I got up and there was smoke in the hall and the kitchen.
“There were flames in the kitchen and it was coming from the cupboard.
“I immediately phoned the fire brigade and they got here really quickly.
“I was fast asleep and didn’t smell any smoke.
“The smoke alarm saved my life.”
Mr Blackmore’s electric water boiler had caught fire.
The fire happened just after 10am and was extinguished by firefighters wearing breathing apparatus and using a hosereel.
An aerial ladder was used to check whether the fire had spread to adjoining flats.
Firefighters were at the scene for some time after as they were engaged in cutting away and carrying out salvage work in the second floor flat, and ventilating the roof space.
There was nobody else within the block at the time of the fire although the top two flats suffered smoke logging.
Mr Blackmore rents the flat from a private landlord and is being decanted for the time being.
“There’s quite a lot of damage,” he said.
“There’s also no water because the fire damaged a pipe.
“I’m going to have to be decanted.
“Luckily my landlord’s been able to put me up in a flat in the next block so I won’t have to move too far away.
“I suppose it could have been much worse.”
Blackness Road Watch Manager Steve Low of Tayside Fire and Rescue said the incident highlighted the importance of having a working smoke alarm.
“It was well alight on arrival and four firefighters wearing breathing apparatus extinguished the fire using a hosereel jet,” he said.
“There was nobody at all in the four floors apart from Mr Blackmore. He was woken up by his smoke detector.
“I would encourage everybody to check their smoke detector to make sure it’s working.
“They can also call Tayside Fire and Rescue where they can get a free home fire safety visit where we will do a home safety check and provide a smoke detector free of charge.” |
