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| Pensioners evacuated during blaze | |
| (19 minutes later) | |
| Nearly 30 elderly residents of a care home in Aberdeenshire have been evacuated after a fire broke out. | |
| The 27 residents, most aged in their 80s, were taken to another care home after the blaze took hold at the council-run Ythanvale Home in Ellon. | |
| Six residents had to be rescued from their rooms because thick smoke on the ground floor stopped them escaping. | |
| Fire crews were called just before 2000 GMT on Saturday when a light fitting fell down and set fire to a carpet. | Fire crews were called just before 2000 GMT on Saturday when a light fitting fell down and set fire to a carpet. |
| 'Swift action' | |
| A firefighter and a member of staff carried two residents to safety, according to David Rout, station manager at Aberdeen fire station. | |
| He said: "There was thick black smoke and fire in the ground floor corridor. It was blocking the escape route for the residents in that wing. | |
| "If it had not been for the swift action taken by the care home staff it could have had far more serious consequences. | |
| "The staff were exemplary in their actions and if it had not been for them the potential consequences could have been horrendous." | |
| One resident was later taken to hospital as a precaution to be treated for smoke inhalation. | One resident was later taken to hospital as a precaution to be treated for smoke inhalation. |
| Electrics assessed | |
| Residents in other wings of the building, which house 32 people, were allowed to stay in the home after the fire was put out by the three crews that attended. | |
| Those affected were taken to the other home, in Fraserburgh, and will remain there until the electrics in the fire-hit building have been declared safe. | |
| Colin Mackenzie, of Aberdeenshire Council, said staff and emergency services dealt with the situation in an "excellent" manner. | |
| "Everyone acted very competently and the fire brigade arrived very quickly," he said. | |
| "The staff have been excellent in the way they have responded to the situation and other staff have come in off duty to help." |