Mother and her children fought to escape fire that burned at 1,000ºC

Evan Mohammed, nine, died in the fire at the family home in Ayrshire in the early hours of yesterday. His mother, Sheree McGill, had to be held back from going into the house to rescue her children after escaping from the building herself.

Friends said Ms McGill, 34, was “inconsolable” over Evan’s death.

His sisters, Yasmin, four, and Nya, three, were rescued by firefighters and taken to hospital where they were said to be in a stable condition.

A third sister, Talia, 15, escaped from the burning building by putting a blanket over her head, while another child, five-year-old Zac, was staying with a relative at the time of the fire.

The alarm was raised at about 3:20am and fire crews arrived to find an intense blaze at the end-of-terrace house in Kilmarnock. Early investigations suggested it had not been started deliberately.

Fire chiefs said their investigations into the cause were continuing. But the dead boy’s aunt said the family thought the fire had been started by a fibre-optic Christmas tree in his bedroom.

Ms McGill’s sister, Lyndsay McGill, 31, said the whole family was in “utter shock”.

“We just can’t believe it. It’s not sank in,” she said. “I’ve got children around the same age and they’re all good friends. My sister is inconsolable. She doesn’t know what to do with herself.

“We think the fire started in Evan’s room. We think it was an electrical fault. He had a fibre-optic Christmas tree in there.

“My sister’s bedroom is downstairs, so she got out quickly. Talia was so smart – she put a blanket over her head to escape.

“Sheree tried to get back in when she realised her kids were still in there, but some of the neighbours held her back.

“Thank God the two wee girls are OK. We’re still just in utter shock about it all.”

She went on: “Sheree was asleep on the ground floor with her boyfriend.

“Talia managed to get down the stairs and out with a blanket over her head, and the firefighters rescued the youngest two children from their cots, but no-one could reach Evan.”

Fire investigators and police officers spent yesterday examining the house in Altonhill Avenue that was left gutted by the blaze.

The heat was so intense it melted the plaster from the walls, exposing the brickwork, and buckled the rear window frames and guttering. A Strathclyde Fire and Rescue spokesman said, at the height of the blaze, the temperature inside the house would have been 1,000C.

Fire crews fought through “intense heat and thick acrid smoke” to reach the three children on the upper floor, but attempts to resuscitate Evan by firefighters and paramedics proved unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at Crosshouse Hospital.

Strathclyde Fire and Rescue assistant chief officer Robert Scott said: “We were met by a well-developed fire. Within seconds of arrival, the officer [in charge] committed breathing apparatus-wearers to extinguish the fire using high-pressure hose-reel jets and to carry out a search and rescue operation.

“Crews battled through very intense heat and smoke and made their way up to the bedrooms where they located three young children – two young girls and a young boy – and immediately brought them outside, where they were treated by firefighters and paramedics using trauma techniques.

“Despite their best efforts, the young boy lost his life, and we were unable to resuscitate him.”

All of the windows and much of the house’s walls were coated in thick black soot – an indication, Mr Scott said, of the ferocity of the fire. Extending the fire service’s condolences to the family, he said lives had been saved by the presence of a smoke alarm that had been set off by the blaze.

Ms McGill and her family were being comforted at a relative’s house nearby.

A tearful family friend, who did not wish to be named, said: “I was with Sheree this morning and she’s distraught. I grew up with her and I have known her kids since they were born.

“She ran in and out trying to save her kids, but she passed out from smoke fumes. We are all distraught.”

A spokesman for Strathclyde Fire and Rescue said it was too early to say what had caused the fire, but they did not believe it was suspicious.

Strathclyde Police area commander Wilson Brown said: “A family has been left dealing with a tragic incident in what should be a joyous time of year, when they should be together celebrating Christmas and looking forward to the New Year.

“We are working with the fire service to establish the cause of the fire, which has caused serious damage to the inside of the house.”

It is understood the children’s father, Saleem Mohammed, no longer lives at the family home.

Local shopkeeper Mohammed Anwar said Evan had gone into in his newsagents on a regular basis, and he described him as a “lovely” boy, always “full of life”.

Mr Anwar, 46, said: “It’s tragic. The whole family come in here every day and I just can’t believe what has happened.

“They’re always so friendly and nice, and the kids are all lovely. The little boy was so cute, he had little dimples on his cheeks.

“I think the woman is a single mother – she works hard to look after the children. It really is unbelievable this happened just across the road.”

Residents said Evan was popular and well-liked in the street. Neighbour Charlotte Edmonds, 17, said: “The children are always around playing outside. They are such a nice family.”

Another man, who did not wish to be named, said: “We’re absolutely devastated. He was my daughter’s best friend. Evan was a popular kid around here. He liked his music, singing and dancing. He was always running about.”

Chris Wears, 31, said his niece was in the same class as Evan at Mount Carmel Primary School.

He said: “It’s such a terrible thing to happen. It is a real shock for the area.

“I had seen him about and he was a lovely wee boy.”

By late morning, forensic officers dressed in white jump suits and wearing hard hats had arrived at the cordoned-off house to start their investigation.

They were joined later by police, who carried out a fingertip search of the property’s gardens.