Man rescued from blaze at Wigan flats

Crews from Wigan and Hindley fire stations were called to a fire in a two-storey block of flats on Kendal Road, Ince, at 10.40pm on Friday.

The fire was in an unoccupied flat, but they checked neighbouring properties to make sure everyone was okay.

During the search they found in a man on the floor in an upstairs flat who was unconscious but breathing.

He was seen by paramedics, who discovered he was ill due to a diabetes-related condition and treated him.

Firefighters worked to tackle the blaze and remained at the flats until midnight.

Carl Gleaves, watch manager at Wigan fire station, said: "It was caught quite early by working smoke alarms. They do save properties as well as lives.

"The fire services does free smoke alarm installations.

"It was called in by a neighbour in an adjoining property whose alarm was activated. Fortunately for us, people were there and able to notify us at a relatively early point.

"It could have been a lot worse."

A joint investigation into the cause of the blaze has now been launched by the fire service and police.