A Shrewsbury man was rescued from the roof of his blazing property in the early hours of Monday morning after reporting his flat was on fire.
Fire Control received the call around 2.30am and three fire appliances along with an Incident Commander from Shrewsbury were sent to the scene just off Oteley Road. The Incident Commander was informed on route that the man had made his way onto the roof of the property.
On arrival the Officer in Charge was notified by the police that the male had been rescued from a ground floor flat roof and was receiving attention from ambulance crews for smoke inhalation.
Six firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entered the property to extinguish the fire and carry out a search to confirm that no other persons were in the property.
The fire started in a settee in the downstairs living room, and the after speaking to the occupant he said he had been smoking in the room before retiring to bed.
Incident Commander Neil Grove said "The fire was started from a discarded cigarette, causing the ground floor living room to be fully involved in fire with thick smoke affecting the rest of the property. Luckily for the occupant working smoke detectors were fitted in the property which raised the alarm allowing the occupier to make his escape.
"Once again this incident highlights the dangers of smoking before going to bed, and the benefits of having fully working smoke detectors fitted in your property. On this occasion the smoke detectors did their job, otherwise the outcome could have been very different."
