British couple saved from fire

A British couple were among those evacuated from the Port of Alcudia apartment block after a fire broke out in the apartment below early Friday morning.

Palma.—Colin Passmore, who has lived on the seventh floor of the Mississipi Apartment block for the past four years, told the Bulletin yesterday that, if it had not been for his two Spanish neighbours “we would probably have died.” Colin and his wife Joan live in the apartment directly above the one which caught fire in the early hours of Friday morning. “We were both fast asleep, we had had a busy day, when there was this banging on the door. “I opened it and it was one of our neighbours Jose who said that the apartment below was on fire and that the building was being evacuated.
Thick with smoke “He immediately rushed through to the balcony which was not only thick with smoke, but the flames from below were already coming over the edge and licking into our property. “With the help of Jose, we managed to make it down the stairs through the thick smoke to safety only to see Jose, who must be in his late 40s, early 50s, disappear back into the building to raise the rest of the people who were oblivious as to what as going on,” Colin said. “If it had not been for Jose, who we've known since we first moved here, we would be dead,” he admitted. “It was pretty traumatic. There were fire engines, police, ambulances, you name it all over the place and everybody was very nervous. “Fire fighters had to break the doors down of a number of flats because there was no reply, luckily they were empty. They kicked ours in too, but that's what they're trained for,” he said. “For the moment, the Guardia Civil has sealed off our flat. “We've been back in to get essentials and, apart from the balcony being a write-off with everything burnt and the floor cracked, I guess from the heat below, the flat seems OK, but we've got to wait for the engineers' report and I think that will very much hinge on the condition of the flat below which was totally gutted and the ceiling collapsed,” he said. “Another neighbour Francisco stayed with us all day and we've found alternative accommodation in the block for the next four weeks. Everybody has really rallied round but Jose was the real hero of the night,” Colin added.