TWO people were hurt in separate fires in the Newton Abbot area over the weekend.

Firefighters from the town had a busy 24 hours with a brace of late-night shouts to contend with – one at Channings Wood Prison and the other a kitchen blaze in the Broadlands area of the town.

Casualties from both incidents were taken to hospital for treatment.

The rush climaxed with a call to the Denbury jail where an inmate is thought to have started a fire in his cell which left him with burns to his legs.

He was taken to Torbay Hospital for treatment after the alarm was raised at 11pm on Saturday. He was rescued by warders while firefighters dealt with the cell blaze which destroyed bedding and possessions.

Earlier in the day at 12.30am the same crews went to Brownhills Road where a faulty charger for a toy was the suspected cause.

A father at the property suffered smoke inhalation as he tried to extinguish the blaze, an action which prompted fire chiefs to repeat safety advice about getting out and staying out in the event of a fire.

It’s understood he was woken by the fire which started in the kitchen. A woman and children were safely evacuated.

The kitchen was destroyed in the blaze with the rest of the ground floor badly affected. Half the upstairs space was smoke-damaged.

A fire spokesman said: ‘It was a busy period for us.’