People trapped in seafront fire

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/devon/7245540.stm

Version 0 of 1.

Residents were forced to escape through windows and over the roof of a four-storey seafront building in Devon after becoming trapped during a fire.

Ten fire engines, 80 firefighters, an aerial platform and an incident command vehicle were called to the building in Hillsborough Terrace, Ilfracombe.

Everyone was accounted for and there were no reports of serious injuries.

The fire broke out a day ahead of a decision on cuts to the town's fire cover due to a £1.3m budget shortfall.

'Engulfed in smoke'

Emergency services were called to the scene at about 1620 GMT on Thursday.

The road was closed off and houses in the immediate vicinity evacuated.

Witnesses said some people inside the building escaped by climbing on to the roof and walking to adjacent roofs.

Occupant Moses Belford said people also had to use other escape routes.

He said: "I started banging on everyone's door to try and get them out.

Barnstaple's aerial platform was called to the scene

"There was an old man stuck in the back of a flat. We had to smash a window and grab him out of it. The flames then came straight up the stairs.

"There was a small baby in the top flat with a young girl and her friends. They had to smash a window, she had to climb out and got her arm cut."

Nearby resident Alan Kift said the local geography of the area and the construction of the building caused difficulty for the fire crews.

He said: "We heard the fire engines, looked out and noticed the top of the building was engulfed in smoke and flames.

"The fire brigade did a wonderful job. We thought they'd contained it, but Ilfracombe's topography is where you get these high-rise buildings - three, four, five, six storeys high - on steep ground."

Police said they believed 13 people lived in the building.

An investigation has been started into the cause of the blaze, but a thorough search cannot take place until gas leaks are made safe and further damping down has taken place.

Specialist crews

The fire comes the day before the Devon and Somerset Fire Authority is due to decide on proposed cuts to deal with a £1.3m budget shortfall.

Its choices include either changing specialist crews in Exeter, Barnstaple and Torbay or cutting fire cover in Ilfracombe and Paignton.

If the Ilfracombe option is chosen, it will move the town from having full-time firefighting cover to just being covered by part-time retained crews.

Other proposals include changes to the way some aerial platforms in Devon are staffed, including the Barnstaple platform, which was used during the Ilfracombe fire.