Edinburgh fire: MSP among residents evacuated from early morning flats blaze

There were no reports of any injuries after the blaze
Lucinda Cameron14 March 2024

An MSP has told how he and other residents fled a block of flats in a “dramatic” evacuation after a fire broke out in the early hours of the morning.

Around 45 firefighters are tackling the blaze in Breadalbane Street, Edinburgh.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service sent nine pumps and a height appliance to the scene when the alarm was raised at 4.10am on Thursday.

Central Scotland MSP Graham Simpson was among those staying in the building at the time.

Speaking at around 8am he told the PA news agency: “The fire alarm went off and people started evacuating and everybody got out.

“There is a fire in the fifth floor flat and flames were belching out of that flat, and it has then spread upwards to the sixth floor and the fire is still going on and smoke is belching out. I can still see flames, it appears to have spread to the stairwell.

“Everybody has been evacuated, nobody has been hurt, that’s the main thing, but some people will have lost their homes.

“People got out but it was very dramatic and still is.”

Mr Simpson, a Scottish Conservative MSP, said the fire crews were doing a “fantastic” job but access issues were making it more difficult for them as they could not drive up to the front of the building.

He said: “I think there is a safety issue in that the fire brigade cannot get a fire engine up to the front of these flats because of the way they are designed, so what they’re having to do to get access from the front is actually carry ladders up to the front and put ladders up against balconies, it’s pretty shocking.

“They have managed to drive up round the back, I’ve seen a turntable ladder spraying water into the flats from there, but they cannot get proper access to the front.

“They’ve got into some flats and they’re spraying water from balconies but right now the fire is still raging.

“The fire brigade should be able to drive up to the front of the building and get a turntable ladder.

“It’s quite ludicrous they are having to carry ladders up and physically put ladders up to balconies. They are doing a fantastic job but the fire is still going.”

The fire service said there were no reports of any injuries.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in