One-year-old rescued after fire in stairwell

A ONE-YEAR-OLD girl was among those rescued from a second floor flat after a blaze in the stairwell believed to have been started by a burning child’s carry-cot clogged up the building with black smoke.

The burnt-out carry cot found in the ground floor stairwell. Picture: Gordon Fraser

Two women and a baby were taken to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary to be treated for smoke inhalation following their dramatic rescue from a three-storey building in Moredun Park Green, Liberton.

Firefighters were called at 6.30pm on Sunday and used a nine-metre ladder to rescue four female casualties from the second floor, three of whom were hospitalised.

An investigation is underway into the cause of the fire, which neighbours suggested might have been deliberate as the burnt out carry cot was found in the ground floor stairwell.

Frankie Forsyth fled his ground floor flat with his friend’s son Jay, nine, when neighbours raised the alarm.

The 54-year-old said: “I saw people out of the window waving and shouting that there was a fire in our stair.

“All I could see were flames when I looked through the peephole in my door. I wasn’t going out there so me and the lad legged it through the back door and up the street. I’m surprised this happened as this is a good stair and we don’t have any trouble. The buggy in the hall was what was on fire, and that is what makes this worse.”

Helen Watt, who has lived in the building for 30 years, was stunned by a wall of black smoke when looked out of her door to check whether the hall lights had come on.

The 92-year-old said: “My hair was covered in soot, just from looking out of my door. I just saw this black spiral of smoke coming up the stairs.”

Joe Andrews, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Group Manager, said: “The activation of smoke detectors contained in the flats alerted the occupants to the presence of fire within the stairwell and provided a vital early warning. Residents had time to raise the alarm.”