People Escape Flat Fire In Boscombe

Residents living in a property in Boscombe escaped unharmed after it caught fire.

Dorset Fire and Rescue Service were called at approximately 12:40am this morning (6th May).

A crew from Springbourne initially attended this incident but quickly requested support and at the height of this incident we had six fire engines plus our aerial ladder platform on the scene (approximately 35 firefighters). The fire is believed to have started in some bins at the rear of the property and spread to the first and second floors. The property is used as shops and flats.

Crews used hose reel jets, mains lines and breathing apparatus to extinguish this fire. At this time we do not know how this fire started but we have a fire investigation officer at the scene starting an investigation into the cause. There is a considerable amount of damage to both the commercial and residential premises.

Incident Commander, Station Manager Richard Jones said:

 "Luckily all the residents of the flats were able to get out of their properties and crews worked extremely hard to stop the fire causing further damage. This proves a working smoke alarm will provide the early warning to a fire and I would like to remind members of the public to have and rehearse a fire escape plan too, because it will prove invaluable if they unfortunate enough to experience a fire."