Tenth Floor Flat Fire

8 May 2013, 12:04 | Updated: 8 May 2013, 12:10

A man's rescued by firefighters from a tenth floor flat in Bedford after a fire started in his kitchen.

Firefighters were called to Bosworth Court, Queens Street, Bedford after an automatic fire alarm was set off at 8.12pm on Tuesday 7 May 2013.

Heavy smoke was found in the corridors.  Firefighters identified the source of the smoke as one of the flats on the tenth floor.  They forced their way in and found it thick with smoke. They rescued the only man who lived at the flat, who was asleep in an armchair.

The man was suffering from the effects of breathing in smoke.  He was taken to hospital by ambulance.

Firefighters then put out the fire.  It's thought to have been caused by cooking left unattended.

Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service incident commander, Darren Cook, Station Commander at Kempston said: “We have specific procedures for dealing with fires in high rise buildings, which can pose a particular risk to our fire crews, as well as the occupants.

"These plans were immediately put into effect, ensuring that we had sufficient resources in terms of equipment and firefighters to get to the 10th floor to tackle the fire and rescue the man safely.
 
Station Commander Cook added: “The automatic fire alarm gave us an early indication that there was fire, and we were able to deal with it quickly and effectively. I’d like to congratulate the fire crews involved for doing their job quickly and efficiently, rescuing the casualty and putting out the fire out before it developed into a more serious situation. They did a great job.”