Early morning blaze wrecks former home of the Scouts Early morning blaze wrecks former home of the Scouts

Twenty-one firefighters were needed to tackle the blaze at the derelict two-storey building in Kirk Street, Prestonpans, which broke out soon after 1.30am.

Part of the building collapsed during the fire and structural engineers were due to inspect the property later today.

In a separate incident, a 44-year-old man was rescued by police from his flat in Loanhead after the cooker caught fire just after 8pm on  Saturday. The blaze in a ground-floor property of the three-storey building at Kennington Avenue was extinguished by fire crews.

The man was treated by an ambulance crew at the scene and did not need to go to hospital.

Firefighters also dealt with a fire at Ark housing, off the High Street, in East Linton, at around 11.35pm last night after smoke was reported coming from a roof space. The three-storey premises were unoccupied and it is thought they were under  development.