Man In Hospital After Coal Fire At Dunbartonshire House

A man was taken to hospital with burns after an accelerant was used to try to light a coal fire at a house in East Dunbartonshire on Tuesday night.

Firefighters were sent to Lenzie’s Woodilee Cottages in response to a 999 call made to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service shortly before 7:30pm.

A crew from Kirkintilloch Community Fire Station arrived within five minutes and found the man already outside the property.

The firefighters provided him with treatment for burns and smoke inhalation before the arrival of an ambulance saw the casualty passed to the care of paramedics. He was taken to the Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

Station Manager Kenny Ferrie, the officer in charge at Kirkintilloch Community Fire Station, said: “This was a flash fire which saw the ignition of a liquid fuel instantly set alight vapour within the surrounding air.

“Although the fire was out within a moment it still caused the casualty to suffer potentially very serious burns.

“This shows how dangerous it is to try to start a fire using flammable liquids – you can’t see the vapour in the air but it fills the immediate area and if it ignites then the consequences could be horrific.”