Baxters Gate incident: Man treated for smoke inhalation following wilful fire in East Lothian

Emergency services were called after flames were seen at a property on Baxters Gate, Tranent, at about 2.55am on Wednesday.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service extinguished the blaze and one man was treated for smoke inhalation at the scene.

Police Scotland is treating the fire as deliberate and have launched an appeal to gather more information about the incident.

There have been two suspects linked to the fire – the first has been described as a white female, of medium build and at the time of the fire she was wearing a dark-coloured thigh length hooded coat, dark trousers and dark shoes.

The second suspect has been described as a white man, of a medium build and was wearing a dark-coloured mask, a light-coloured jacket with dark sleeves and dark trousers and shoes.

Detective Constable Jack Wall, of Police Scotland’s Dalkieth CID, said: “Thankfully nobody has been seriously injured as a result of this thoughtless behaviour.

“We are looking for the public’s help to try and identify those involved and anyone with any information is asked to speak to police.

“Although this happened early in the morning, I would ask if there is anyone in the area with possible dashcam or CCTV footage that could assist with our investigation to get in touch with officers.”

Police Scotland can be contacted by calling 101 and quoting incident number 0347 of Wednesday, 7 July, 2021.

Alternatively, Crimestoopers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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