Family stuck in upstairs bedroom as fire spread

A YOUNG family trapped in their burning home after a petrol bomb was pushed through the letter box have spoken of their terrifying ordeal.

Nigel and Elaine Brown were stranded in an upstairs bedroom with their two-year-old son as smoke and fumes spread throughout their East Lothian home in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The couple were awoken by a loud bang but could not escape as the blaze took hold of the doorway and spread up the stairs of the semi-detached property.

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They managed to phone the emergency services and shouted to neighbours to bring a ladder to rescue their son, with fire crews arriving in time to tackle the blaze and rescue them from the first floor.

Speaking to the Evening News at his burnt-out home in the village of Ormiston, Mr Brown, 40, said: “We were woken by a loud bang from downstairs and almost instantly smoke began pouring into the bedroom.

“Me and Elaine were in our bedroom with our boy but we couldn’t get out because the fire had started at the door.

“We don’t know if the bang was a petrol bomb, or if it was the electricity box going but there was smoke everywhere, choking smoke. The pram was right in front of the door and we think it melted and that made the fumes worse.”

Mr Brown said they were able to get fresh air from leaning out of the windows, but that the fire took hold of much of their home. He said: “My wife managed to phone the fire brigade and I was shouting to my neighbours to bring a ladder so we could get my son out.

“My cousin, who lives in the street, ran down with the ladder and we were about to get him out when the fire crews arrived and took over.

“We passed my boy out and me and my wife went out the window after him.

“A lot of the downstairs is completely gutted, and there’s a lot of smoke damage upstairs.

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“We don’t know exactly what started it, whether it was a petrol bomb or a device, but it was definitely flammable.”

Mrs Brown said: “It was really frightening. There was just no warning at all.” Fire crews rushed into the house after the Browns were rescued and spent around two hours extinguishing the blaze and securing the scene.

A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police said a man has been arrested and charged in connection with the incident.

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