40 residents forced to leave block of flats after 3am blaze

Around 40 residents were taken to safety at 3am after a member of the public made an emergency 999 call to alert crews to the fire in Salamander Court, Leith.

A number of large plastic bins were found to be alight in the store which is located underneath the properties.

One witness, who did not want to be named, said residents had to flee the building after being woken up by the building's fire alarm.

She said:"Unfortunately, this has happened before and does happen elsewhere in Salamander Court."

The householder said residents are required to enter a code into an electronic lock to gain access to the bin store.

She said that when firefighters arrived at the building, it is understood the door was locked and the fire was inside.

She said: "We're really not sure what happened."

Residents were forced to wait outside while firefighters extinguished the blaze.

She said: "Forty people were evacuated from the building due to smoke. There were no injuries."

The residents waited around 20 minutes before being allowed back into their properties.

Emergency services were unable this morning to say if the fire was being treated as suspicious.

Firefighters were also called to an incident in a property on Carlton Street just after 8pm last night.

They found there had been a fire in a grill pan, which had been extinguished prior to their arrival, and an ambulance was called to check two women, aged 47 and 17, who were in the building at the time.

They were treated at the scene and were not taken to hospital.