Firefighters tackle double West Lothian house blaze as locals watch on in horror
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) rushed to Shaw Avenue, Armadale, after they received reports of what is believed to be two homes alight on the quiet street.
One local reported seeing four appliances in attendance and confirmed the street had been cordoned off while emergency services attended the incident.
READ MORE: Tragedy as West Lothian man dies in crash after air ambulance lands on busy road
READ MORE: Edinburgh could see thunder and lightning storms as heavy downpours to continue
Firefighters received a call at around 3.49pm on Saturday June 7 and it is understood they remain on site.
Video footage captured by local, Jordan Sweeney, shows flames licking out of a window of one of the properties.
Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.
Thick grey smoke can be seen billowing the sky and engulfing adjacent streets.
Firefighters are seen spraying water into the home to try to control the fire.
A spokesperson for the SFRS said: "We received a report of two residential properties on fire at around 3.49pm on Saturday June 7.
"Four appliances remain in attendance on Shaw Avenue, Armadale."
Sign up for Edinburgh Live newsletters for more headlines straight to your inbox
The service could not confirm whether there are any casualties related to the incident.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Fast Company
2 hours ago
- Fast Company
A wildfire in Spain kills 2, as Europe bakes in a heat wave
A European heat wave helped fuel a virulent wildfire in Spain that killed two farmers before hundreds of firefighters brought it under control thanks to a timely rainstorm, authorities said Wednesday. The blaze that broke out late on Tuesday in the rural province of Lleida created an enormous thick plume of ash and smoke that reached 14,000 meters (45,000 feet) of altitude, making it the largest registered by firefighters in Catalonia, a northeastern region of Spain. Firefighters said that the fire spread at 28 kph (17 mph) at one point, making it one of the fastest fires registered in Europe, they said. Catalan regional president Salvador Illa announced the deaths, which occurred late Tuesday, in a social media post around midnight. Firefighters said that the two victims were found near the small village of Coscó in the county of La Segarra near a vehicle. Regional official Nuria Parlón said that the two victims were a farmer and one of his workers. She said that it appears that they were caught by the flames as they were trying to flee the farm. Two firefighters also needed to be treated a local hospital for injuries. Rain played a helping hand A total of 6,500 hectares (16,000 acres), mostly of fields growing grains and cereals, was burned before firefighters got some help from a rainstorm and established a perimeter. Authorities issued warnings to residents via messages to smartphones and ordered 14,000 people to stay indoors, firefighters said. That order was lifted late Tuesday as more than 500 firefighters participated in the deployment. Firefighters said that the rainstorms 'quickly changed the situation and helped speed up getting the fire stabilized.' The fire destroyed mostly farmland, but it also incinerated at least three old farmhouses and some other farm buildings before it was declared under control early Wednesday. 'Wildfires today are not like they were before,' Illa, the regional president, said. 'These are extremely dangerous. From the very first moment, it was considered to be beyond the capacity of extinction. I mean that not even with two or three times the number of firefighters, they have told me, it would have been possible to put out.' The heat wave in parts of Europe has set record high temperatures for June in Spain and Portugal. More hot weather is expected on Wednesday with temperatures in the Lleida region forecast to reach a high of 39 C (102 F). 'It will be a difficult day due to the high temperatures and until we get past the hottest part of the afternoon we will have to be on our guard,' Illa said. Spain bakes Spain has been sweltering under its first heat wave of the year since the weekend. Its weather service said that the national average for June of 23.6 C (74 F) was a new record. It was the first time that June was hotter than the average temperatures for both July and August. Except for Spain's northern Atlantic coast, the country remained under alert for high temperatures and for wildfire risk on Wednesday. In Spain's southern city of Malaga, the international Red Cross set up a 'climate refuge' that is air-conditioned down to the low 20s C (about 70F) to help residents 'cope with the heat in comfort and with company, avoiding the isolation and loneliness' that extreme heat can impose as people stay indoors. The Spanish Red Cross was also providing an 'assisted bathing service' to help people with reduced mobility to cool down in waters at the beach. The European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts said that it was closely monitoring the abnormally hot temperatures for the continent. Weather experts link the heat wave to climate change. More than two-thirds of the severest heat waves in Europe registered since 1950 have occurred since 2000, the World Meteorological Organization says. France's national weather agency kept four departments under red alert on Wednesday after temperatures exceeded 40 C (104 F) in many towns. The summit of Paris' iconic Eiffel Tower remained closed until Thursday for 'everyone's comfort and safety.' Air conditioning strains Italian power Heat alerts were issued for 17 Italian cities Wednesday. The corresponding surge in air conditioning was straining the electric grid and causing periodic blackouts. On Tuesday, parts of Florence's historic center—which is packed with hotels, restaurants, and shops—had a blackout following a surge in electricity use, energy company Enel said. Italy's labor ministry, meanwhile, summoned union representatives to a meeting Wednesday to finalize a protocol on protecting farm, construction and other workers who labor outdoors from heat exposure. This came after a construction worker died in Bologna this week.


Bloomberg
4 hours ago
- Bloomberg
California Is Running Out of Safe Places to Build Homes Due to Fires, Rising Seas
California, gripped by a housing shortage that is forcing families from the state, wants to build 2.5 million homes. But it's running out of safe places to put them. Much of the land best suited for new housing — wind-swept, grassy hills surrounding the state's major cities — now faces an extreme threat of wildfire, brutally illustrated by the Los Angeles-area blazes in January that killed 30 people and destroyed more than 16,000 structures. Fires have also leveled entire towns in the Sierra Nevada foothills, often considered an affordable place to buy a home. With California's peak fire season on the way, the state's main firefighting agency recently updated its maps showing the places at risk, and the danger zone now encompasses an area the size of Georgia.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
What shall I tell my friend when she smells in the heat?
As a July baby, I am on the side of sunshine and the causes of sunshine. Warmth is my medium. When the local TV news carried a 'yellow heat health alert' – the condition formerly known as 'summer' – yesterday, I rolled my eyes. Don't talk to me about heat. Some of us are old enough to remember the summer of 1976, when it was so hot for so long that the tarmac on the pavements melted and the lampposts dipped like wading birds. Lawns were crispy brown and people queued at standpipes for water. No one had heard of 'air con' and sunscreen was in its infancy. We didn't really bother with it. I remember the agony of badly burnt shoulders on Bri-Nylon sheets in a seaside boarding house. Somehow the artificial fibres, slithery to the touch, made it worse. Can that be right? A heatwave is not 'three or four days' as a TV weatherman tried to claim. Wimps! When I tweeted my memories of the summer of '76, several people raised me the sizzling summer of '59, before my time. 'Now that really was a summer from May 5 to mid-October,' Michael recalled. 'Weeks and weeks of hot weather.' Anyway, yesterday I finally cracked and broke my vow to never ever complain when we have great weather in this country. The dog was miserable and could only be walked at first light or after 8pm. I put ice cubes in Bingo's water. I had the fan on all night Monday into Tuesday, but I still woke up feeling like I hadn't had any joined-up sleep, so I was tetchy. And then there was the unmentionable problem: body odour. Two showers a day to try and keep the sweat at bay. But what about other stinky people – do you say something or not? I met a friend for a coffee at my club in London; Sarah had just got off the Tube, where the heat had gathered in the tunnels like a furnace and the air was unbearable: soupy and stagnant. When Sarah dipped in for a hug, the pong made my eyes water. KO'd by BO! She said she had her office summer party in a couple of hours and I wondered if I should tell her. Tell her what exactly? 'You smell, darling?' 'How about some more deodorant?' What if she was mortified? There is no sweat etiquette that I'm aware of. But I couldn't let my friend enter a room with all of her staff and have them thinking the new boss had terrible personal hygiene. On the other hand, a polite form of words eluded me. I pulled out some perfume from my bag and sprayed her generously with it. 'Do I pong?' she laughed. 'Er, a bit sweaty, yes.' 'Ah, thank you for telling me.' Sarah reminded me that she totally lost her sense of smell after Covid. 'It's good because I can't smell anyone else. Trouble is, I can't smell if I smell either.' We went to the powder room and Sarah had what my grandmother used to call a 'strip wash' while I held her blouse. Her body was now clean, but the blouse was impregnated with sweat. I applied lashings of perfume under its arms and over her hair. I just got a text from Sarah: 'After you washed me and sprayed me with perfume I went to that office party. There was no air movement at all and I was talking to the most wonderful, suave, handsome Frenchman. I'm sure all he could smell was the strange combination of leftover BO and your scent. He thought I was a party girl on the pull – it was great!' I'm glad I told Sarah about the BO because, I guess, I'd hope someone would be honest with me – and that I wouldn't take offence. Meanwhile, I made a mental note to travel everywhere with a can of 72-hour odour protection and a change of top. Even a July baby was prepared to concede that, just for once, it was too darn hot. And then, this morning, the loveliest sound in the world: rain! Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.