A FLAT in the centre of Rothesay was gutted by a blaze in the early hours of Sunday morning which saw firefighters called to Bute from as far afield as Tighnabruaich and Skelmorlie.
Strathclyde Fire and Rescue were called to attend the blaze in the top storey flat in King Street at 7.05am, and when they arrived they found "extremely adverse" conditions in the building, in which a floor had already given way.
Fortunately t
hey discovered that no-one had been in the flat when the fire broke out.
Roddy Shaw, watch manager at Rothesay fire station, told The Buteman: "We committed two teams with breathing apparatus to the top floor flat and thirty minutes into the job, I put out a call for the Tighnabruaich appliance to assist.
"In order to provide cover for the island while we attended the fire, I also asked for a unit from Skelmorlie."
Local police inspector Macdonald Stephen told us that his officers had attended at King Street from shortly after 7am until all personnel were stood down ten hours later at 5pm.
"We evacuated nearby flats and were able to account for all the occupants who were all safe and well," he said.
"The Strathclyde fire investigation unit arrived at lunchtime and, along with a detective sergeant from Dunoon, was able to ascertain the cause of the blaze.
"The final assessment showed that an item of household equipment had shorted and ignited."
(This story first appeared in the November 24, 2006 issue of The Buteman.)The full article contains 260 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
