Two dead, one critical after spate of weekend blazes

A MAN has died in a late-night blaze at his flat, firefighters said yesterday.

Fire crews were called to the ground floor property at Muirpark Terrace, Beith, Ayrshire, at 11pm on Saturday.

Four firefighters using breathing equipment went into the flat to put out the fire. They brought the 54-year-old man out of the building but he was found to have died at the scene.

Strathclyde Police said there did not appear to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding the fire.

The death came a day after a man died in a flat fire in Paisley. The victim's body was found inside the King Street flat after fire took hold at 10pm on Friday.

Elsewhere, a fire at a house in Balloch, Dunbartonshire, left a woman critically injured.

Six people were in the building at the time. The blaze broke out at 12:35am yesterday at the house on Lynn Walk. A 51-year-old woman was rescued and taken to the Royal Alexandra Hospital suffering burns and smoke inhalation.

She has since been taken to the Glasgow Royal Infirmary where her condition is "critical".

Five other family members were in the property during the blaze – her 22-year-old son, 28-year-old daughter, 30-year-old son-in-law and their two children aged three and seven.