FIREFIGHTERS rushed to tackle a fire at a tower block in Southampton.

Seven fire crews from Redbridge, Eastleigh, St Mary's and Hightown were called to Albion Towers in St Mary's after residents heard the fire alarm suddenly going off shortly after 10:36am yesterday.

Several police cars were called to support the fire crews.

Abdi Rashid, 32, pictured below, lives on the ninth floor and said he was told by friends that there was a fire. He started to run down the stairs.


He said: "I was very scared after what happened in London.

"There were lots of people running down the stairs. I called to my wife and she ran too. My daughter is in the school just here."

People were waiting on the street outside including city council workers, who were repairing ceilings inside the block.

Daily Echo:

Ali Abdi, 29, taxi driver, said:"We can't use the stairs, we can't use the lift at the moment so we can't go back home. My daughter need to have lunch but we can't go home."

St Mary's School was not evacuated.

A Hampshire Fire and Rescue statement says: "The fire was caused by a wok containing oil which had been left on the stove and was put out in less than an hour. 

The fire and the building behaved as expected and the stay put policy of the building owner operated as it should. 

"It was confined to one flat on the 15th floor of Albion Towers, in Golden Grove, and nobody was injured in the incident."