Evacuation after blaze

A man had to clamber out of a window and down a drainpipe to flee his burning flat in Heath Hayes today after a discarded cigarette set his sofa alight.

More than 20 people had to evacuate The Heath in Cannock Road after people realised what was happening at 4am this morning.

A 21-year-old man had been out drinking and lit a cigarette when he returned home, which he put in an ashtray but then fell asleep. The burning cigarette fell out without him noticing, setting the sofa alight.

The alarm was raised when a neighbour realised there was a fire and banged on his door to wake him up. The man then climbed out of a window of his first-floor flat and slid down the drainpipe to get out.

All 21 people in the block at the time, from 14 different flats, had already evacuated the building by the time firefighters arrived.

Neil Griffiths, watch commander at Cannock fire station, said: "This does really highlight the dangers of going out drinking and then being careless when doing things like smoking when you get home."

He also urged people to ensure they had working smoke alarms inside their homes as firefighters checking each flat found several had been removed.

Nobody was injured in the fire but the man from the flat where the blaze started was treated for smoke inhalation.

His one bedroom flat was completely destroyed and all flats in the building suffered smoke damage. The flats, close to Five Ways island, were built last year by Lichfield-based developer Fresh Space.