A disabled Monifieth man was taken to hospital with serious injuries after being dramatically rescued from a fire at his home in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Neighbours had attempted to reach the man, named locally as Craig Henderson, but their efforts were foiled when they were beaten back by dense smoke pouring from his ground-floor flat in Union Street.
One woman who lives across the hall from Mr Henderson recalled the “horrendous” events that led up to her badly burned neighbour being taken to hospital by ambulance.
June Tambini (51) told The Courier she felt fortunate that she had happened to have a friend spending the night with her.
She said another neighbour became aware of the fire and raised the alarm in the building, which is operated by Hillcrest Housing Association.
“Someone came banging at his door but when he opened it the person wasn’t there but he heard the smoke alarm,” Mrs Tambini said. “He banged on my door but I am on medication and I probably wouldn’t have heard anything, but my friend heard and woke me.
“We got outside but the place was covered in smoke. It was really bad. It was impossible for the neighbours to get Craig out because it was just black, billowing smoke everywhere.”
She continued: “The next thing was, four fire engines came and lots of police cars and they eventually got Craig out but he was badly burned. We weren’t allowed back into the building for quite a while over an hour.”
Her overnight guest, Alicia Hutchison (46), said: It was horrendous, absolutely horrific.”
Mr Henderson suffers from cerebral palsy and has been confined to a wheelchair for most of his life.
Tayside Fire and Rescue was alerted to the fire in his flat by residents of the block shortly after 2am. Appliances from Balmossie and Kingsway East attended initially but called for backup when it became clear that someone was trapped inside.
Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus then searched the flat and found Mr Henderson in his bedroom, where the fire started. They carried him out of the building and gave him oxygen until paramedics arrived.
Mr Henderson was then taken to Ninewells Hospital suffering from serious burns and the effects of smoke inhalation.
Continued…
Firefighters used a hosereel jet to extinguish the flames and the fire was contained in the flat, with residents on the upper floors of the block advised to stay in their homes while it was dealt with.
A joint investigation into the cause of the blaze has been launched by Tayside Fire and Rescue and Tayside Police.
“The initial call was to a fire in a dwelling there wasn’t an actual person reported but on arrival at the flat we were told by neighbours that the gentleman was still inside,” said Balmossie watch manager Garry Brown. “We sent in breathing apparatus teams for search and rescue into the flat that the gentleman was in and into the block itself.
“Some people had started exiting their flats through the stairwell but we encouraged others to stay in their flats and keep their doors closed because the stairwell was very heavily smoke-logged.”
After rescuing Mr Henderson and extinguishing the blaze, firefighters ensured everyone in the building had been accounted for.
“The flat was severely smoke damaged especially the bedroom, where the fire started,” added Mr Brown.
The key role played by smoke detectors was later highlighted by a senior Tayside Fire and Rescue officer.
“Smoke detectors operated within the property and this alerted members of the public who dialled 999 and requested Tayside Fire and Rescue to attend,” said station manager Fraser Scott. “Whilst many fires are preventable, this incident highlights the importance of having a working smoke detector as, without it operating, the consequences could have been much worse.
“We want to work with our communities to reduce the tragic consequences of fire and I would urge everyone across Tayside to contacts us to arrange a free home fire safety visit and discuss any concerns you may have with your local firefighters.”