Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service (GMFRS) has issued an urgent warning after two fires break out in the city centre within the space of an hour.
Both incidents happened on the balconies of Manchester city centre apartments.
Firefighters were called to the first incident – which happened at a flat in a block on Ludgate Hill, in the Green Quarter area of the city centre – just before 9:30pm on Tuesday night, and was said to be the result of a disposable barbecue having been placed directly onto the wooden flooring of the balcony, causing a fire to start.
GMFRS said that crews managed to quickly extinguish the blaze and gave the flat’s residence fire safety advice.
The second incident happened at 11:02pm, where five fire engines and an aerial ladder platform attended a fire on the balcony of a second floor flat in Manchester – believed to be the Quantum Building, on Chapeltown Street in the Northern Quarter.
ADVERTISEMENT
The fire service confirmed that firefighters were at the scene for around 30 minutes.
☀ As we see some nice weather please be safe if you have a balcony.
👩🚒 Last night we attended two balcony fires in Manchester, one started by a BBQ.
❌ Never have a BBQ on a balcony and be careful with cigarettes if you smoke.
— Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service (@manchesterfire) March 31, 2021
It is suspected that the fire ignited wooden garden furniture on the balcony, and was caused by a “carelessly discarded cigarette”.
ADVERTISEMENT
“As we are experiencing some nicer weather in Greater Manchester, it is really important that residents of flats are aware of fire safety when they use their balconies.” Paul Duggan – Area Manager and GMFRS Head of Prevention – said.
“We were fortunate that there were no injuries at the incidents we attended yesterday and that we were able to quickly bring them under control and stop any further spread [but] this is a timely reminder that residents of flats should never have BBQs on their balconies and should be particularly careful on their balconies if they smoke.
“We want people to enjoy themselves at home when the weather is nice – but please do so carefully”.
ADVERTISEMENT
Yesterday’s two incidents come after GMFRS last year responded to a number of fires on balconies during the warm weather, with the most common cause of these fires being BBQs or people throwing cigarettes from buildings, which can even cause fires on someone else’s balcony.
Most-notably, a discarded cigarette caused a fire at the Lighthouse apartment building in the Northern Quarter last year, which spread across a number of balconies and resulted in the full evacuation of the building, and there has been various similar cases of fires reported around the country which also started on balconies and caused significant damage to buildings.
These incidents sometimes resulted in residents needing to move out.
The government has issued advice to building owners about the potential risks posed by wooden balconies, and in most buildings, the use of BBQs on balconies is not permitted and may be a breach of the lease or tenancy agreement.
GMFRS says that residents therefore have a responsibility to co-operate with the fire safety arrangements for the building.
ADVERTISEMENT
Residents could face action if they put other people in the building at risk.
In order to help keep residents of apartments blocks as safe as possible as we head into the warmer months, GMFRS has issued these safety precautions to reduce the risk of fire on a balcony:
Do not use BBQs under any circumstances.
Never store flammable materials like gas on your balcony.
Reduce clutter and try and keep items on the balcony to a minimum.
If you smoke, make sure you fully stub cigarettes out and NEVER flick them off your balcony.
The Lowry Hotel is once again offering free men’s wellbeing services to Mancs for Movember 2024
Danny Jones
The Lowry Hotel in Salford is doing its bit for this year’s Movember initiative by offering free men’s health and wellbeing services to local blokes.
It’s not just about the ‘tache, you know.
Yes, returning for Movember 2024, The Lowry is once again hosting a number of male-targeted events and open sessions for men in the city centre and across Greater Manchester to do some much-needed checking in, get their moustaches trimmed and more.
Teaming up with their in-house spa and fitness studio RE:TREAT for another slate of Movember events, they’re hoping to welcome local lads not only for key health scans but maybe open them up to trying something new.
After a successful month this time last year, The Lowry and RE:TREAT have doubled down with their Movember schedule, including everything from free facial hair grooming to their top-of-the-line cryotherapy sessions and even ‘broga’.
Yes, that is bro-yoga because god knows we love a little title to hook us sometimes.
While all of these are really worthwhile events and options – especially when it comes to keeping the mo’ trimmed and proper for the month – but, more importantly, they’re also inviting blokes in for some vital health sessions, both physically and mentally.
As well as offering free testicular scans (which you should aim to do once every month so) but they’re also hosting a wellness circle with Mandem Meetup, a grassroots men’s mental health charity here in the UK that align perfectly with the ideals of Movember.
While issues like testicular and prostate cancer awareness are crucial to the work that the annual month-long ‘shave and raise’ tries to promote, a key cornerstone of Movember is men’s mental health and suicide prevention – which is what makes contributions like The Lowry’s so valuable.
A number of the sessions have already happened this month but their biggest week yet is still to come as we approach the final few days of Movember, with this Friday set to close out their 2024 events.
The last round of free beard and moustache trims, testicular scans and cryotherapy slots are taking place this Friday, 29 November, along with the Mandem Meetupellness x RE:TREAT wellness circle from 10am onwards. Wholesome stuff.
Once again, all of these sessions are completely free of charge and last-minute drops-in are just as well come too; this initiative is all about giving men as much access to these services as possible.
You can find out more about timings and how to book your free cryotherapy slots, specifically, HERE. And Movember or not if you’ve ever been interested in seeing what the in-house spa destination at The Lowry Hotel is like, look no further…
Sky Sports criticised for ‘disrespectful’ treatment of Rúben Amorim after Man United v Ipswich Town
Danny Jones
Sky Sports have been criticised for what some fans have labelled ‘disrespectful’ behaviour towards the new Manchester United boss, Rúben Amorim, during his first post-match interview on the job.
Fans got their first look at Ruben’s Reds on Sunday evening as they travelled to Portman Road for an away match against newly promoted Ipswich Town, only managing to muster a 1-1 draw despite an early goal less than two minutes after kick-off.
The travelling fans will no doubt have felt like they were in dreamland in those opening moments but as the game went on it was clear that this is just the start of what is likely to be a very long process.
Speaking with the Sky Sports presenting panel immediately after the game, one of Amorim’s answers is cut somewhat short Ed Sheeran, of all people, interrupts the interview. A humourous off-the-cuff moment for plenty watching, certainly, but many have called it simply “disrespectful”.
I’m honestly a bit aghast at how rude that was from Ed Sheeran. Amorim should have told them all to get fucked pic.twitter.com/Hjm0VWovdF
It's not an overreaction to say this was incredibly disrespectful by Ed Sheeran. Wait for the interview to finish. Don't care what your standing is in society or who you think you are, have respect & courtesy.
If he wasn't before, Ruben Amorim is very aware of the circus he has… https://t.co/VCwiozieOZ
As you can see, while many took issue more specifically with the popstar and Ipswich fan for inserting himself into the situation mid-question, some were also left criticising Sky themselves for allowing the musician to somewhat derail the discussion with the fledgling Man United manager.
Not only is Ed Sheeran a lifelong Tractor Boy, but he also happens to own a minority stake in the club and his album artwork features on the current kits, so they will no doubt have been more than keen to hear what he had to say.
Regardless, the interruption proved somewhat fruitless in the end as the singer himself said, “He [Amorim] doesn’t want to talk to me” and the 33-year-old ultimately walked off without contributing anything to the conversation other than adding: “I love being back in the Premier League.”
Meanwhile, the 39-year-old United head coach can be seen with his head down throughout the random moment and could only shake his head in confirmation and reply, “No, I don’t want to [talk to him]”.
One fan wrote online: “[As] soon as Ed Sheeran rudely interrupted Amorim’s interview, he should have just put the mic down and walked off. Would’ve made a big statement to the media.”
Definitely the most entitled thing I’ve seen, imagine Jamie Redknapp walking on stage mid concert 😂
Despite laughing off the interjection and continuing with the questions Sheeran departs, Amorim looked already visibly exasperated with the media commitments if he wasn’t already, telling Sky Sports host Kelly Cates, “This week I spoke more than in four years of Sporting.”
Amorim will have to get used to the circus that is English football as this is just the tip of the iceberg – especially when it comes to taking a job as big as the one at Manchester United.
What do you think: were Ed Sheeran and/or Sky Sports rude and disrespectful to Amorim, or is this just a bit of a storm in a teacup?
United take on Bodø/Glimt in the Europa League on Thursday in just Amorim’s second match, but for now you can watch the highlights of his debut in the dugout down below.
The Manc -
1st April 2021 
