A Forth Street flat complex of six went up in flames on Sunday, October 6th. The fire began in a downstairs flat before smoke made its way through the complex. A total of 18 students were affected by the blaze. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but the fire has meant six students have been relocated to Uniflats until the end of semester.
Critic Te Ārohi spoke to two affected students, Jane* and her flatmate Harry*, a few days after they’d recovered from the shock of losing their flat. They said that the fire started at around 10pm, just as Jane had finished her washing. “I was standing out in the lounge and I thought it smelled like something was burning,” Jane* said.
Her flatmate had just lit up his incense, so Jane* didn’t see the smell as a problem. She just thought “my heater’s doing God's work right now, this is so chill.” But around ten minutes later, she heard the downstairs flat’s fire alarm and shouts of “FIRE”. The entire complex was evacuated. The flatties left everything behind, apart from one of the boys who ran out with his PC (any gamer would).
“The fire brigade got there in four minutes which is just insane. Another couple minutes and it would have been a different story,” said Jane. The damage was considerable. Jane witnessed a window and a wall explode from the flames, with the downstairs flat left “completely destroyed.” Following the fire, Harry said, “Every single thing that was in my room is covered in ash [...] All of us were emotionally affected, it was quite a scary time.”
It wasn’t just the complex which felt the impact of the fire. The entirety of the street’s power was cut off during the blaze. It was “surreal,” said Harry*. They were standing outside on the street for about three hours, he estimated, with the only light coming from the blaze. “Everyone had gone outside, and because there was like four fire trucks, people were flocking,” he said. “ I was just trying to call my mum.”
A few punters from Castle St had also made the trip to see the extent of the blaze, with many deciding to post quips like “ngl gang may have burned the lasagne” on Castle24 – quips that weren’t appreciated by the students affected. “Holy shit, do you guys have any human sympathy at all?” questioned Harry. “That’s just someone’s entire life that’s being wiped out […] there’s a line that you draw that shouldn't really be crossed.”
Safe to say it was a long night dealing with punters, police, the fire department, Campus Watch, and finally the Proctor – who the flatmates gave a shoutout to for securing them a Uniflat within ten hours of the incident.
Stressful, yes, but after a while standing outside on the cold Sunday night, Harry said that he was “just chillin.” Jane even asked a fire person to retrieve her pink stuffed dolphin along with other essentials in her room, before he told her, “You know that’s illegal right? Dolphins belong in the sea.” “Too soon brother, too soon,” joked Harry.
As the numbness of shock wore off, however, everyone in the flat was “terrified, anxious, really overwhelmed, and just in shock, I think,” said Jane. “It hit all of us when we went in the day after.”
Both Jane and Harry are looking at applying for special consideration in their upcoming exams. Their new flat is only a skip over the hill on Leith St, but they have resigned for next year, so are hoping to receive some clarity on the situation soon.
A Givealittle has been started by the Physiotherapy Students Association to raise money for the considerable amount of stuff students lost in the fires. Residents would like to thank the 119 people who have donated thus far.