Livingston Football Club are providing community support for people affected by a huge blaze which broke out in a block of flats in West Lothian.
Emergency services were called to a fire which started in a ground floor flat in Katherine Street, Livingston, at about 8.30pm on Thursday.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said fifteen appliances were in attendance as well as three height appliances and specialist resources.
All residents in the four-storey building were evacuated with none of their belongings.
A 26-year-old man has been arrested in connection with alleged wilful fire-raising and police inquiries are ongoing.
Police confirmed that one person was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation but did not require hospital treatment, and everyone inside the flats left safely.
In the wake of the fire, the football club announced that they would be collecting donations on Tuesday at the club’s game against St Johnstone for supporters who wished to donate to help.
Local bar The Tower have been taking donations of supplies such as clothing and bedding for residents affected, and have created a JustGiving page to take donations which will be distributed to the residents who have lost everything in the devastating fire.
At Tuesday’s match, Livingston FC’s donation points will welcome clothing, bedding and non-perishable food items which will be delivered the following day.
They are asking that any donations are bagged for ease of delivery.
Everyone at the club was saddened to hear of the devastating fire that broke out in Katherine Street, Craigshill last night.
— Livingston FC (@LiviFCOfficial) January 28, 2022
We'll be running a food & clothing collection to support those affected ahead of Tuesday's game with @StJohnstone.
Details here - https://t.co/wS5Iz4CRUp pic.twitter.com/XUwW8viXUj
READ MORE: Fire crews battle to extinguish blaze at Livingston's Katherine Street
A statement released by the club read: “Everyone at Livingston FC was saddened to hear of the devastating fire that broke out in Katherine Street, Craigshill last night.
“The severity of the fire means that a number of those in the affected buildings have been left with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
“Local bar “The Tower” are taking in donations of clothing, bedding etc from 11am this morning for anyone who might have some spare tucked away in cupboards to help support those who have very sadly lost all of their belongings. You can find The Tower at The Mall in Craigshill (EH54 5DZ).
“They have also created a JustGiving page to take donations to distribute amongst those affected. You can donate to that here.
“Furthermore, we’ll be making a collection point available before Tuesday’s game with St Johnstone for supporters who also wish to donate. Any donations of clothing, bedding and non-perishable food stuffs will be hugely appreciated and we’ll then make delivery of everything we receive on Wednesday morning. We ask all donations to be bagged up for ease of collection/delivery.
“We’ll have a collection point available to the South end of the West Stand – near to the spiral staircase so if you’d like to donate, please find the donation point there.
“Our thoughts are with all of those affected and hope that the community support on offer can help ease a little of the burden at this horrible time.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “We were alerted at 8.35pm on Thursday January 27 to reports of a fire within a ground floor flat in a four-storey building in Katherine Street, Livingston.”
Crews remain at the scene, the fire service said, but their presence has been stepped down this morning.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article