RESIDENTS were evacuated from their beds in the early hours after a fire ravaged through a Barrow home which has left one man hospitalised.
Emergency services responded to an incident in Grosvenor Street at 4.53am yesterday morning following reports of a house fire.
Six fire engines, the joint incident command unit, and the aerial ladder platform attended the blaze which involved a mid-terraced property and was extinguished by crews using two main jets and two hose reels.
One casualty was taken to hospital following smoke inhalation and burns.
A joint police and fire investigation is ongoing to identify the cause of this fire.
Connor Graham was forced to leave his home on Grosvenor Street in the early hours of yesterday morning while fire crews tackled the blaze which has left the street in ‘shock’.
The 22-year-old, who works at Haven Holiday Park, was asleep at home when he heard sounds of ‘popping’ and ‘banging’ outside.
He said: “My sister came downstairs around 4.30am and said there was a fire outside. We heard popping and banging. We saw the house on fire and couldn’t believe it.
“The fire brigade turned up five minutes later. I went outside and spoke to the man who lived in the house. It sounded like he had just woken up. He seemed quite confused and shaken up.
“There was a bit of a commotion about if the fire would spread next door.”
Connor, alongside a number of Grosvenor Street residents, were evacuated from their homes and taken to the Ormsgill Inn while firefighters controlled the blaze.
“Everyone got evacuated around 5am,” he said.
“We weren’t too sure when we would be able to go back home but they let us go back around 7.30am.
“I’ve never seen a house fire before – it was shocking, we were most concerned about the people inside and who the house belongs to. It’s quite a close-knit area – everyone knows everyone.
“The house isn’t great now – it’s a bit of a write off. The whole roof has caved in and all the windows are smashed. The whole place is completely black.”
The blaze in Grosvenor Street follows a number of fires which Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) have attended over the past eight days.
Two significant fires last week left one elderly man dead and another with ‘life threatening’ injuries in a spate of blazes to hit the town.
A 91-year-old man died in a house fire in Hartington Street on Monday November 21 while another casualty was rescued from a separate property fire in Primrose Road in the early hours of Sunday November 20.
A joint police and fire investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Two men, both in their 30s, were taken to hospital following a fire at Primrose Road in the early hours of Sunday morning.
One man was taken to Wythenshawe Hospital with injuries that have been described as life threatening.
The second man was taken to Furness General Hospital for smoke inhalation but has since been discharged.
Crews were called to a further report of a house fire in Langdale Crescent, Dalton in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Fire investigation reports from the three recent house fires in the Barrow area show that these fires are not linked, it is purely coincidental, a spokesman has said.
The causes of the incidents last week have been identified as one due to an electrical fault and one accidental.
Andy Lee, area manager at Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service said: “I’d like to reiterate that it is unusual in Cumbria for us to see a series of property fires in the same geographical area in such a short space of time. However, these incidents are not connected.
“We would like to reiterate that smoke alarms are a last chance to stay safe and do give a warning but sometimes this can still not stop people from suffering harm from smoke and fire.
“Working smoke alarms do save lives, but they are a small part of staying safe from fire, they do not extinguish fire or guarantee a safe escape from the property. They should be used as part of a ‘staying safe from fire’ toolkit which includes, maintaining clear escape routes, keeping doors shut to prevent smoke travel and fire spread, reducing the sources of ignition and being safe when cooking.
“People with reduced mobility or other health conditions may not be able to evacuate as easily as others and may need increased fire safety measures, we carry out 10,000 home visits every year to ensure smoke alarms are working and that people have a plan in case a fire does occur.
“We have an online home safety tool that can be used by people to assess their own fire risk and the risk to loved ones and are encouraging everyone to spend ten minutes on this site to increase their fire safety awareness and safety.”
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