A 28-year-old woman and her three-month-old baby girl were taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary for a check-up after a deliberate fire in Granton this morning.
Firefighters from McDonald Road and Crewe Toll fire stations responded shortly before 11.30am after a report of a building alight in Royston Mains Gardens.
When crews arrived, they discovered the back door and rubbish to the rear of the three-storey property well alight and the common stair filled with smoke.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze and checked out all the neighbouring flats to ensure no one was unaccounted for.
The woman and her baby were lead to safety by firefighters before being taken by ambulance to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation. Crews left the scene at 1pm.
A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service said: “Initial investigations suggest that rubbish which had been stored at the back door was deliberately set alight. This led to the door catching fire and the common stair filling with smoke.
“This would have been a very frightening experience for householders. Fortunately, firefighters were on site quickly and were able to help residents out of the building before extinguishing the blaze.
“We can’t stress enough the importance of keeping common areas free from junk and rubbish. It’s an attractive target for firesetters and can put people at risk of deliberate set fires.”
A Lothian and Borders fire investigation team is working to discover the cause of a small fire that broke out at Blackhall Mosque in the early hours of this morning. There is also a small police presence at the site.
Firefighters spent two hours battling a fire in a derelict building in Muirhouse Avenue last night.
Three fire appliances from Crewe Toll attended the incident after the alarm was raised at 9.20pm. Crews discovered a fire in the ground floor of the derelict domestic property and two firefighters in breathing apparatus used high-pressure hose reels to tackle the blaze.
The fire spread to the first floor, but was put out with a high-pressure hose reel and crews using a short extension ladder. Following further safety inspections and damping down fire crews left at 11pm.
The Muirhouse Avenue building is one of two due for demolition as part of the Muirhouse Pennywell regeneration programme.
A team of local firefighters will set out to cycle the length of the country to raise funds for Oaklands School this week. The officers from Crewe Toll’s White Watch plan to pedal from Lands End to John o’ Groats – a distance of 845 miles – over nine gruelling days.
The firefighters hope their efforts will raise enough sponsorship money to purchase at least one specialised Petra Running Bike, which give children a totally new experience of freedom when they use them, for the school.
David Dourley, who was White Watch commander, explained: “We have a team of ten cyclists, plus two support drivers who are retired colleagues, and we set off down south on Thursday. We decided to support Oaklands because we have a very good working relationship with the school – being on Ferry Road it’s very close to the Fire station and we’re regular visitors. Some of the children and young people at Oaklands have severe and complex additional support needs and we know the staff do a really fantastic job here. When we heard Oaklands needed support to raise money for these amazing bikes we were delighted to offer our services. I hope we’re all still feeling the same way after the trip!’
Colleague Ali McKay added: ‘We’ve got all levels of experience in the team – some guys cycle regularly, while one of our blokes only bought a bike a couple of weeks ago! We’ve been training, but none of us have done anything like this before – eight to ten hours per day for nine days – so it will be a real challenge. It’s for a great cause though and we’re really looking forward to it – honestly!’
Good luck, White Watch. We’ll let you know how the guys get on.
ATTACKS on firefighters attending blazes in the Lothians are on the rise with crews reporting everything from assaults with beer cans to thugs trying to steal appliances.
David Lockhart, says attacks on crews are sensless. (Picture: Lothian and Borders Fire Service)
At least 46 violent attacks were launched against firefighters tackling blazes in the last year, a rise of more than 25 per cent since 2010 and the first increase in four years.
Crews have been attacked with bricks, eggs and even berries as they responded to emergency incidents. They have also been threatened with pool cues and have experienced youths stubbing out cigarettes on their uniforms, spitting at them and trying to cut up hoses.
Today fire bosses blasted the “senseless” attacks.
David Lockhart, community safety manager at Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service, said chiefs would not hesitate to prosecute anyone who carried out such anti-social behaviour. He said: “Any attack on operational firefighters is totally senseless. They play a vital role in the community, protecting the public from fire and other emergencies.
“We now have added legislation in the form of the Emergency Workers Act, which has been used to successfully prosecute people who have impeded firefighters and other emergency service personnel from carrying out their duties.
“Although we have seen an increase in figures this year, over the longer term attacks are down and in part this is due to our continued efforts to educate the public about the need to respect firefighters and the risks of prosecution should they choose not to.”
He added: “We’re always alert to the possibility of these kind of incidents, and as alcohol can often play a part, this is something we are very aware of over the festive period. We get a lot of support from the police if we attend an incident.”
Throughout the course of 2011 firefighters endured dozens of call-outs where they were showered with rocks and bricks and abused in the street. During one incident, on Niddrie Mains Road, small children ambushed a fire crew.
It followed a previous incident when a large gang of children aged between six and 16 attacked firefighters, leaving one injured. They targeted six firefighters from Bathgate, pelting them with stones while their backs were turned, resulting in a leg injury.
Earlier this year, a 15-year-old schoolboy was charged with trying to steal a fire engine while up to 30 children pelted firefighters with eggs at West Pilton Children’s Centre.
In 2010 one home owner tried to attack crews with a pool cue. Children later attacked them with full beer cans, eggs and berries.
The number of attacks was at its highest in 2006, when nearly 80 incidents were recorded by the service. Firefighters were punched, kicked, spat on and dog excrement was thrown at them. There were around 50 attacks in 2007, 45 in 2008 and 45 in 2009.
Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service received 250 999 calls yesterday as the area was battered by extreme weather conditions. John Dickie, Head of Operations for the Service said: “This figure shows our control room staff were exceptionally busy, with around 50 to 60 calls expected during this time on an average Tuesday.”
John Dickie, Head of Operations at Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue.
“Our crews worked closely with other emergency workers at many of the incidents, with public safety always at the forefront of their minds. Many incidents involved reports of unsafe structures, trees and debris blocking roads and road traffic collisions.
“Many of the calls to the Control Room were with concerns about unsafe structures including fallen chimneys and guttering. We responded to these incidents to assess the risks, provide specialist advice to other emergency services and local authority personnel and make areas safe or ensure cordons are in place as necessary.
“As well as dealing with weather related calls we also responded as normal to automatic fire alarm calls, reports of fires and other emergencies.”
Shortly after 9.30am firefighters were called to a report of an articulated lorry which had overturned on the A1 south of Dunbar, near to Lafarge cement works. A 32-year-old man was cut free from the wreckage and taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary in an hour- long rescue operation. We dealt with a further three overturned LGV’s in our area yesterday.
John Continued: “Whilst we were exceptionally busy we had the appropriate resources in place to respond to problems caused by today’s high winds, and our firefighters carried out a commendable job in what were very difficult conditions.”
