Elderly man rescued from flat fire after leaving cooking on stove and falling asleep

[dutchman]

The 82-year-old was rescued by firefighters in the early hours of this morning

An 82-year-old man was rescued by firefighters in the early hours of this morning after he fell asleep while cooking and a pan caught fire.

Fire crews were called out to the flat fire on Almond Tree Avenue in Coventry at 3am.

Fortunately, the man was only to taken to hospital as a precaution and the fire wasn’t severe.

However crews are reiterating the message for people to never leave cooking unattended.

A crew from Foleshill went out to the scene, and had to break in to the flat to rescue the man.

A spokesman said: “We had eight calls to bonfires, but nothing major.

“However we had one 82-year-old who we rescued from a flat fire.

“He had left something on the stove so went to bed and fell asleep.

“We had to break the door down and rescue him.

“That was around 3.30am.”

West Midlands Fire Service continuously raise awareness of how dangerous leaving cooking unattended is.

The phrase ‘Watch what you heat’ is regularly used by crews to warn people of the dangers.

WMFS added: “From the fire brigade, our message is ‘Watch what you heat’. Don’t leave it unattended.”