Woman jumps to safety after stair fire drama

Published on 03/08/2012 10:42

A WOMAN leapt from a first-floor window to escape a stairwell blaze that sparked the evacuation of a property in Gracemount and killed one dog.

Residents of the fire-hit property in Captain’s Drive were confronted by flames and thick smoke when they opened their doors on to the common stair at around 9.10pm last night.

Firefighters used a ladder to rescue a 40-year-old man from a first-floor window while a 24-year-old woman, who suffered a cut head, had to be treated for smoke inhalation.

Two dogs were rescued from the smoke-logged stairwell – one was revived with oxygen at the scene – while a third dog died in the fire.

The cause of the blaze is not yet known, but it is understood fire investigation teams are examining the scene for signs of fireraising.

A spokesperson for Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service said residents opening their doors had experienced a “flash over” – a sudden and rapid spread of fire through the air caused by the ignition of smoke or fumes – before fire crews were alerted and called to the scene.

Today, debris from the fire could be seen piled outside the two-storey property while heavily-charred window panes revealed the severity of the drama that unfolded.

Windows on the upper floor of the property had been smashed and one fire crew was still on scene this morning.

Firefighters from Liberton and Dalkeith used breathing kits and high-pressure hose reels to tackle the blaze while a height appliance from Sighthill was also on scene but understood to have been unused.

Reports over the number of casualties taken to hospital were conflicting at this early stage, with a spokeswoman for the Scottish Ambulance Service claiming they had attended the house fire at the request of fire crews and had taken a male to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary suffering smoke inhalation.

The fire spokeswoman added that there were “multiple people involved” in the fire that was “well alight”.

She added that firefighters had “done well to ensure 
everyone got out”.

She said: “One woman jumped from a window before we arrived and made herself available to emergency services once we got there.”

In July, the News reported how a three-year-old girl and her parents had to be rescued following a fireraising attack in a stairwell near the Meadows.