A resident has said he would not be alive today if it wasn't for a working smoke alarm fitted by fire crews just a few weeks ago.
Mr Glen Tennant, 36, was asleep with his girlfriend in their flat when the fire broke out in the early hours of this morning.
Glen lives in a block of flats in the Teams area of Gateshead. A fire in the same area, exactly a month ago to the day resulted in fire crews rescuing five people and crews fitting smoke alarms to as many neighbouring properties as possible.
Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service's Control Room received a call about the fire at 00:46 this morning. Three fire appliances attended the incident, two from Gateshead East Community Fire Station in Low Fell and one from Gateshead North Community Fire Station in Swalwell. The fire started in the communal lobby area of the block of flats.
Control Room staff gave fire survival guidance to one lady enabling her to leave the property safely by a ground floor window prior to the arrival of the Fire and Rescue Service. They also gave advice to Glen and his girlfriend who were on the first floor and were rescued by firefighters using a ladder.
Glen said: "I was woken in the early hours of this morning by the smoke alarm which firefighters fitted just a few weeks ago. There is not doubt that I would not be here today if it wasn't for that smoke alarm. I can't praise the fire and rescue service enough - they saved our lives. They were fantastic and I just want to thank them so much. I hope I never ever have to go through that again. Please, please if you don't have a smoke alarm get one - they can be the difference between life and death and certainly were in our case."
The crews put out the fire with four firefighters wearing specialist breathing apparatus and a hose reel.
Group Manager Kevin Gardner, Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, who attended the incident said: "Thankfully we soon got the fire under control. However, there is no doubt that this situation could have been much worse if it wasn't for early notification by smoke alarms from two of the properties. If residents had not been alerted to the fire in the early hours of this morning the consequences of this incident could have been tragic.”
Ambulance and police were in attendance and all occupants were checked by paramedics as a precaution following smoke inhalation, but they did not require hospital treatment.
Over the next couple of days Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service will be visiting neighbouring properties in the area to offer them free home safety checks; providing information and advice on how to stay safe from fire and fitting free smoke alarms.
The police and fire and rescue service are now investigating the cause of the fire.
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