Ten escape fire in Telford block of flats
Ten firefighters took more than three hours to bring a fire at a block of flats in Telford under control.
The blaze ripped through the bedroom of a ground floor flat in the building in Buxton Road, Dawley, last night. Ten people fled their homes when the fire alarm went off with two led to safety by firefighters. No one was hurt in the incident which started at about 7.30pm yesterday.
Fire investigation officers are now looking into how the blaze in the flat, owned by Wrekin Housing Trust, started.
Telford watch manager Pete Hawkins said: "When we got there the majority of the people had evacuated the flats themselves and we led two other people to safety."
He said most people were able to return to their homes after around an hour.
The first floor flat above the blazing bedroom was damaged in the fire and was smokelogged, as well as a flat on the second floor.
Mr Hawkins said: "The window in the ground floor bedroom failed and the heat caused damage to the flat above and cracked the window in that flat.
"We stayed until nearly 10.30pm helping to clear up, dampen down and assisting with the investigation."
Neighbour Heather Tomkins, 44, said she was in the kitchen when the alarm went off.
"There was a knock at the door and the lady upstairs said there was a fire. We went outside and were there about 15 minutes before the fire brigade came.
"But I wasn't really frightened. The window was damaged but I wasn't worried about my property, the firemen just handled it."
Andy Johnson, general manager for the Wrekin Housing Trust, said: "We can confirm that there was a fire in one of our flats yesterday and we are working closely with the residents and fire brigade."
A spokeswoman for West Mercia Police said officers were not called to the scene.
