Residents without gas or electricity in Wigan now have to find somewhere else to stay after a flat fire. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) rescued a man from the building after being called out to Warrington Road in Ince at 10.50am this morning (September 24).
One resident, Mark Wilcock, was at his son's football game when he got the notification about a fire at his flat building. He was shocked by the call, but not by which flat it happened at.
“It’s an accidental fire, I was told,” he said.
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“I was alerted by my Ring camera that police and fire were here. I had seen which flat it was and I wasn’t surprised.
“He’s not been in the flat for a couple of weeks so I don’t know what happened. They’re [the fire service] going to investigate it.
“No one has been in there though. I have to find somewhere else to stay now because I’ve got no electricity or gas.
“When I saw the fire service on my camera I said to my son ‘let’s go pack up the car’ to get here. It was a massive shock to see.
“It’s not a shock, it's that flat though. The fire service got here just before 11am.”
Other residents were turning up as police were on the scene, visibly shocked by what was happening. “What’s going on,” one woman said approaching the property on Field Street.
“I live there. Has someone been in my flat?”
She and her partner went into the building to see the mess and were shocked to see the scorch marks over the door and all the way through the communal area building. Another resident showed up and was angry about what was going on.
All of them will now be looking for temporary accommodation due to the facilities being shut off by the incident. They are now in conversation with the building manager Myspace UK.
Crews from Wigan and Hindley were able to tackle the flames and brought the man down from the flat using a ladder. A spokesperson for GMFRS said: “At approximately 10.50am on Saturday, September 24, firefighters were called to reports of a building fire on Field Street, in Ince, Wigan.
"Two fire engines from Wigan station and one from Hindley station quickly attended the scene. The fire involves the first floor of a flat.
“Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used hose reels to extinguish the fire and rescued one man from the building using a short extension ladder. Fire crews remain in attendance at this time.”
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