Four children and a woman have been taken to hospital after a fire in a flat.
Three boys, aged six, four and three, a ten-year-old girl and a 30-year-old woman were taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary for precautionary checks, a spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue said.
Firefighters were called to the incident in Parkhead Drive, Edinburgh, around 5.30pm on Thursday. The spokeswoman said the fire started in a bedroom and the building was filled with smoke.
From: STV
Two men treated in hospital after fire causes explosion at house
Two men have been taken to hospital after a fire caused an explosion at a house.
Firefighters were alerted by neighbours and passers-by who saw bedroom windows in the property in Longstone Road, Edinburgh, being blown out by an explosion at around 8pm on Wednesday.
A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue said a 25-year-old man managed to escape the house but was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary for treatment to "severe" burns.
A 60-year-old man was rescued by two passing police officers and was also taken to hospital for precautionary checks.
A woman was also led out of the house but did not require medical attention.
Four firefighters extinguished the blaze and damage was restricted to one bedroom in the building, the spokeswoman said.
An investigation into the cause of the fire will start once the property is safe.
From : STV
Island seaweed factory 'completely destroyed' by early morning blaze
Fire: Crews battled the early morning blaze.
A seaweed factory has been “destroyed” in an early morning blaze.
Firefighters were called to Bod Ayre Products seaweed processing factory in the Hannavoye area at around 2.25am on Thursday.
Four fire engines from Brae, Bixter and Scalloway helped tackled the fire.
More than 20 firefighters used 16 sets of breathing apparatus and three jet hoses to kill the flames.
A spokesman for the Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service said: “Unfortunately the building was completely destroyed.”
Fire crews left the scene shortly after 6.15am and an investigation into the cause is ongoing.
From FBU Scotland
40% Glasgow homes deemed to be a high fire risk.
MORE than one in three Glasgow homes are at a high risk of fire.
Firefighter Ross Henderson in the living room that had no sprinkler system or smoke detector fitted
Custom byline text:
By CATRIONA STEWART
Fire safety experts visited almost 6000 properties across the city in the past year – and close to 40% were deemed potentially dangerous.
Firefighters found everything from stacks of newspapers blocking doors to people smoking in bed.
Watch Commander Kevin Rennie, who works in community safety for Strathclyde Fire & Rescue, said: "We have visited 5700 homes and nearly 40% of those were deemed high-risk.
"We are working to tackle these homes as they present a danger, not only to the householder, but also to any neighbouring properties."
Fire bosses in Glasgow carry out free home fire safety visits in a bid to reduce accidental fires.
During the past five years, house fires in Glasgow have dropped by 13% from 990 in 2001/02 to 866 in 2011/12.
Last year there were 191 casualties as a result of these fires – giving an average rate of one injury in four fires.
This is a figure fire chiefs hope to dramatically reduce by visiting as many homes as possible to advise and support householders.
Mr Rennie added: "We are doing well but there's still a lot to be done. One in four accidental dwelling fires is going to have a casualty –that's still too many.
"But these fires are reducing in number and we aim to continue to reduce them year on year.
"Everybody's aim would be to get fire and casualty numbers down to zero, but the biggest success we can hope for is to reduce them as much as possible.
"We want to keep people as safe as possible and get the community safety message through."
High-risk homes are those in which people drink heavily, smoke, cook late at night or are extremely cluttered – what firefighters call "high fire loading".
Officers assess what they can do to make properties safer. In homes where the householder is a smoker they can offer fire-retardant bedding and tell smokers of the dangers of smoking in a bedroom. They can also provide metal bins containing sand for people who drop ash and cigarette butts on sofas or carpets.
If a resident is thought to need extra support, firefighters can get social workers involved or contact local councils or housing associations.
Officers also fit smoke alarms. Last year these were fitted during 60% of home visits, as many at-risk householders did not have them.
The latest figures from Strathclyde Fire & Rescue show there were no working smoke alarms in 20% of accidental house fires. In some cases a smoke alarm was present, but no longer worked, had had the battery removed, or there were not enough smoke alarms.
Mr Rennie said: "A working smoke alarm can give an extra two or three seconds for someone to get out of their house and call us.
"This may not seem like very much but literally every second counts in a fire and can make a difference between life and death.
"A working smoke alarm really does save lives."
As part of the campaign to reduce house fires, bosses want residents to take advantage of free home fire safety checks.
Fire officers will come out to a property, assess whether new smoke or heat alarms are required and work with householders to make their homes safer.
Mr Rennie added: "Fire devastates whole families, can lead to a lifetime of pain, physical and mental scars, and destroy your home.
"We also see people without insurance who lose everything and have to start from scratch again.
"Compare that to a home fire safety visit, which takes about 20 minutes and is free."
The weekly check that could save your life.
* Working smoke alarms really do save lives and could make the difference between life and death .
* Once you have a smoke alarm, check it regularly, at least once a week, to ensure it is working.
* A home fire safety visit can be arranged by contacting your local fire station, calling the free phone number 0800 0731 999 or texting, 'Check' to 61611.
Firefighters had to respond to a fire at one of their own fire stations last week.
Crews were called to the part-time fire station in Limavady, Londonderry at 8.50 am on Wednesday 22 August after a smoke alarm alerted a local retained firefighter. Crews quickly dealt with the fire in a drying room/store area by 9.50am.
Although there was also some damage to a lecture room, the fire station was able to resume normal service.
In a statement, Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service said:
“We want to use this incident to emphasise that fire can happen to anyone at anytime in any building. Fire doesn’t discriminate and it shows the importance of thinking fire safety first, working smoke alarms and the swift actions of our local fire crews in protecting our whole community from the dangers of fire.”
From info4fire.co.uk
Coroner calls for hard-wired smoke alarms in all rental properties
Landlords be aware.
23 Aug 2012
A coroner has called on the government to change the law on smoke alarms and force private landlords to install hard-wired devices in all rental accommodation.
Penelope Schofield, coroner for West Sussex, said too many elderly and vulnerable people are dying in house fires in rented homes without working smoke alarms.
Speaking to the BBC she cited three cases in her county in the last two years. The victims were aged 64, 65 and 87 and were all living in private rented accommodation.
She said none of them had batteries in their smoke alarms, and pointed out that elderly people often forget to replace them or do not realise the batteries are dead.
Making it a legal requirement for landlords to install hard-wired smoke alarms that are connected to the mains could save countless lives, she insisted.
It is not the first time such calls have been made. In 2010 Liberal Democrat MP Adrian Sanders introduced a private members bill requiring all rented properties to have hard-wired smoke detection and warning systems in place at the beginning of a tenancy agreement.
But it failed to complete its passage through parliament and as such was thrown out, with ministers claiming it would add to the burden of regulation already on landlords.
Commenting on these latest calls, Graham Ellicott, chief executive of the Fire Industry Association, said: "The government had the opportunity to do something about this via Adrian Sanders' proposed Fire Safety (Protection of Tenants) Bill but chose not to and meanwhile people are still dying unnecessarily.
"It's time for them to take a lead on this matter rather than hiding behind the extra regulation excuse that is trotted out whenever there's a decision that needs taking."
From: @Fireindustry
Expert calls for new fire safety regulations for recycling plants
24 Aug 2012
Following a number of fires at recycling plants across the UK, including a major blaze in London on August 12th, an industry expert is calling on the government to introduce new fire safety regulations for these buildings.
Speaking to New Civil Engineer, independent fire consultant Fathi Tarada said recycling plants should be forced to introduce fire suppression systems, even if they only have one storey and are less than 18 metres tall - the point at which fire suppression becomes mandatory under current legislation.
He said that since most recycling facilities are only on one level, they are not obliged to install these systems, and many see it as a costly project that would be of little benefit to them.
But, he claimed, there are other factors that should be taken into account, insisting it is time that the regulations were re-examined in light of recent incidents.
"The cost to society of inhalation of toxic fumes, evacuation of nearby premises, the cost of fire service attendance, the risk to fire fighters and the down-time associated with facilities being out of service for a long time following a fire are not factored into such cost/benefit consideration," Mr Tarada remarked.
Examples of fire suppression systems are sprinklers, gaseous agents and wet and dry chemical agents.
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