Pensioner manages to escape to safety from flat fire

A Dundee pensioner was forced to flee a blaze that ripped through his living room on Wednesday morning.

The 70-year-old was asleep in the second-floor flat in Fullarton Street when the fire took hold. He was taken to Ninewells Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

The man managed to dash to safety but one male neighbour feared he was still in the burning building.

The neighbour said: “I kicked the door in and saw the fire ahead in the living room. I had to crawl into the house on my hands and knees because I didn’t know if he was still in there.

“I had to leave because the smoke was really thick and acrid. I went round banging the doors of the other neighbours trying to get everybody out of the building. The guy had got out.”

Neighbour Toufik Halaimia (32), who lives on the first floor, said he was woken by a commotion from the man’s flat.

The fire, which started at around 6.45am, caused extensive damage to the living room.

A total of 14 firefighters from Blackness and Macalpine Road stations attended.