LUCKY ESCAPE

A MASSIVE fire that broke out in a high ­ rise apartment block in Benidorm in the early hours of Sunday, May 21, left residents rushing to safety on the roof.

According to the Provincial Consortium of Alicante, five fire appliances were deployed to the location at No25 Calle Esperanto, just after 5am.

In a post on their official Facebook page, the Fire Department wrote: “Up to five crews extinguished a tricky house fire early this morning in Benidorm.

Some neighbours were evacuated and treated for smoke inhalation.”

They had the fire under control just before 6am with the stranded residents subsequently escorted to safety. Although there were no injuries reported, some had to be treated for smoke intoxication.

At 9.39 the blaze was declared extinguished. Along with the five appliances and crews, a command unit was dispatched to the scene along with a heavy pump, a heavy ru ­ ral pump, and a turntable ladder appliance. A total of nine firefighters tackled the fire assisted by a sergeant and two corporals from the Benidorm Fire Station.

The incident was the second large fire to occur in Benidorm in the space of a week. A spectacular blaze broke out last week on wasteground near a residential area.

Thick black plumes of smoke could be seen from all across the town as piles of rubbish burned fiercely.