A DOZY diner had a lucky escape when he was saved by his neighbour’s fire alarm in the flat upstairs after he fell asleep while cooking a snack.
The 24-year-old was out for the count when smoke began belching from his kitchen in Bothwell Street in Edinburgh around 5am.
No fire alarm was fitted in his own home.
But the blaze tripped the detector in the house upstairs and his neighbours alerted the fire brigade while trying to wake him.
In the end he was roused by members of Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service before being led to safety.
An emergency controller said: “A pan of food caught on fire in a ground floor flat in Bothwell Street.
“A smoke alarm in the first floor flat went off alerting a male and female to the fire downstairs.
“There was no smoke alarm in the first floor flat.
“A 24-year-old man was still in the flat and had to be removed from the flat by fire fighters.
“He was checked out by ambulance personnel but didn’t need to go to hospital.”
A spokeswoman for the fire and rescue service said the close escape highlighted the need for everyone to have detectors installed.
She said: “Smoke alarms really can save your life in the event of a fire in your home.
“In this case the man didn’t have a smoke alarm but the smoke alarm in the flat above alerted the occupants to the fire.
“Not having your own smoke alarm increases the risk of not having enough time to escape if there is a fire.
“We encourage everybody to have their own smoke alarm.
“The fire service can help you with that by installing a free one and giving you an escape plan in the event of a fire in your home.”
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We had a call at 5:23am from the fire service.
“We attended the scene and treated a male for smoke inhalation but he refused to travel to hospital.”
The resident could not be contacted for comment.
REPORT: Amanda MacMillan
