Man treated in hospital following fire in roof of Wirral flat (From Wirral Globe)

Man treated in hospital following fire in roof of Wirral flat

9:23am Wednesday 6th February 2013 in News By Craig Manning

A MAN was taken to hospital following a fire in the roof of a flat above a shop in Moreton last night.

An investigation is underway to establish the cause of the fire, which involved the first floor and roof space of two properties in the brick building in Hoylake Road.

Crews from Wallasey, Birkenhead, Upton, West Kirby and Heswall fire stations and Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service Incident Management Team attended the call-out.

Their efforts to bring the fire under control were hampered by high winds and intense heat.

Paramedics treated a man, who was conscious and breathing, for suspected smoke inhalation at the scene. He was taken to Arrowe Park Hospital.

There were no reports of any rescues.

The fire was brought under control by 10.59pm. The incident was being scaled down at 11.19pm. 

Relief crews from Aintree and city centre fire stations took over at 1.54am. Damping down operations were completed by 3.23am.

A building surveyor was requested to attend following the fire and assess damage to the building. A first floor flat and roof space was severely damaged by fire.

Group Manager Paul Murphy, the district manager for Wirral who attended the incident, said: "This was a fierce fire that had spread to the roof space of the two storey property before our arrival.

"Firefighters worked quickly to get water onto the flames to try and limit fire spread and damage.

"High winds, along with failure of the windows due to the intense heat meant that we were dealing with a wind-driven fire within the property which made it extremely difficult for firefighters to extinguish.

"At the height of the fire seven appliances were on scene to make sure we had the correct resources to tackle the blaze and provide water supply to fight the fire.

"The aerial appliance was used as a water tower to put water on the fire from above the roof level.

"Part of Hoylake Road was also closed to allow operation of our aerial appliance."