29 June 2009

A woman was taken to hospital after a fire in the refuse chute of a block of flats yesterday afternoon.

In the first of two incidents at the flats, firefighters from Broughton, Great Holm and Newport Pagnell were called to Mellish Court, in Melrose Avenue, Bletchley, at 2.51pm.

A fire had broken out in the refuse disposal unit on the ground floor of the 18-storey building, and smoke was rising through the communal chute.

It caused smoke-logging to the ninth floor, where a woman had to be helped to safety after suffering from the effects of breathing in smoke. She was taken to hospital by South Central Ambulance Service.

Eight firefighters wearing breathing apparatus cleared the smoke with a fan and put out the fire with a hose reel.

Group Manager Steve Foster, who also attended the incident, said: “It appears that a bag of rubbish containing something still burning was dropped down the chute.”

About 35 people had to leave their flats while the incident was being dealt with.

Watch Manager Bob Breading from Broughton Fire Station, who was the incident commander, said: "The crews worked together superbly, and were able to deal with the incident very efficiently thanks to their training and expertise."

In a separate incident, firefighters from Bletchley, Broughton and Great Holm were called back to Mellish Court at 7.10pm because of a fire in bags of refuse in a bin cupboard on the third floor.

Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service is renewing its plea to residents to make sure they do not place hot or burning items, such as cigarettes that have not been properly put out, in their refuse containers.