A council house in Alloa badly damaged by fire last week was not fitted with the legally-required interlinked fire alarms.

Fire broke out at a house in Tay Court last Monday (September 11), and while thankfully there were no reported casualties, the upper floor of the property was badly damaged.

This week, Clackmannanshire Council admitted to the Advertiser that the house was not fitted with the necessary heat and smoke alarms - despite this being required by law since February 2022 - and that they would be investigating the incident thoroughly.

A council spokesperson said: “Our investigations into this incident are at an early stage, but we have discovered heat and connected smoke alarms were not fitted in this particular property at the time of the fire.

“In light of this, we have begun carrying out checks in our properties to ensure all required alarms have been fitted.

“We will also be reporting the incident to the housing regulator and council via the housing regulator annual assurance statement process.”

A neighbour in Tay Court, who brought the fire to the attention of the Advertiser, expressed his shock at the local authority's failure to comply with the law.

He said: “The fire took out an upstairs bedroom of the house. The force was enough to blow out the window, and the dense black smoke has caused widespread damage to the property.

“Had the tenant been asleep, we may have been looking at fatalities due to the lack of legally required early warning system.”

Questions have now been asked whether there are other council-owned homes in Clackmannanshire without the necessary alarm system installed.

One concerned neighbour in Tay Court raised this in a Freedom of Information request to Clackmannanshire Council, asking exactly how many properties were lacking this legal requirement.

The Council's FOI response stated: “All properties within the social housing stock have been fitted with smoke detectors as part of an ongoing capital project.

“We have been made aware recently that a property was found to be missed on the contract and as such we are carrying out an inspection of the properties within that phase of the contract to ensure complete compliance.”

The new law introduced in February 2022 requires every home in Scotland to have interlinked fire alarms.

It was introduced in the aftermath of the Grenfell fire in London in 2017. Seventy-two people died after fire ripped through the 23-storey tower block.

Interlinked fire alarms mean if one alarm goes off in the house, they all go off, ensuring residents are aware of danger regardless of where they are in the property.

It is the property owner’s responsibility to meet the new standard. That means in this case, Clackmannanshire Council was legally responsible for fitting the alarms.

Guidance on the Scottish Government website states: "Every home must have one smoke alarm in the living room or the room you use most, one smoke alarm in every hallway and landing and one heat alarm in the kitchen.

"All smoke and heat alarms should be mounted on the ceiling and be interlinked."

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service firmly backs the installation of interlinked smoke alarms.

Iain MacLeod, head of prevention and protection for SFRS, said: "The Scottish Government introduced legislation in February 2022 stipulating that landlords and home owners would be responsible for fitting alarms to a new standard within their properties.

“We welcome these measures which support fire prevention and fire safety within the home and would advise anyone who has not already done so to have new standard alarms fitted at the earliest opportunity and to test them regularly because they can save your life.”