Victim dies after 15ft blaze plunge

A WOMAN has died after leaping from a window in a desperate attempt to escape an early morning fire which ripped through her home yesterday.

• Firefighters at the scene of the blaze in the Fernieside area of Edinburgh, in which a woman died after jumping out of a first-floor window Picture: Jule Bull

The woman, aged 35, suffered horrific burns before jumping 15 feet from a top window of the two-storey mid-terraced house before firefighters arrived.

Police said last night that the dead woman's name would not be released until relatives had been informed.

A man, aged around 34, who was trapped behind a locked front door was rescued by neighbours in Edinburgh's Fernieside Avenue who used a hammer to break into the house.

The man, named locally as Norrie Gosman, suffered serious smoke inhalation. The couple were rushed to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary where the woman later died. The man is in a serious condition.

Yesterday Fraser Campbell, 39, who lives next door to the house where the fire started, described how, as he and other neighbours struggled to break down the front door, they suddenly heard the badly burned woman moaning on the ground.

"I woke up when I heard noises of the guy next door trying to get out his door. He had locked himself in. I tried to kick the door in at first. Then other neighbours came out and got a big hammer and used that," Mr Campbell said.

"Then we heard a moan. We were all looking at each other wondering what it was when we noticed the girl lying on the ground. I went and got water and was pouring it over her. It was pretty horrible."

Around 30 firefighters were called to tackle the blaze just before 2:45am. At the height of the fire, 32 firefighters and officers attended, as well as eight fire appliances.

Residents in block of six properties, known as "The Harriers" because it was formerly home to a local athletics club, were forced to leave their homes.

Mary Myers, 55, who lives in the street, said: "I woke up at 2:30am when I heard one of the neighbours trying to kick the door in.

"The house was well alight and the woman jumped out the back window.

"When I saw the flames, I panicked. All the neighbours on that side of the road were evacuated and we took about eight of them in, including kids."

John Thornton, 66, who also lives in the street, said: "I saw flames shooting up from the house. Then I saw the firefighters moving the girl, she was in a bit of a state and I thought straightaway that she was dead.The fire went on for about another two or three hours."

A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service said an investigation was under way, adding: "This was a severe fire with extremely hot conditions for firefighters.

"Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire using eight firefighters in breathing apparatus, a line of hose, a hose reel jet and a short extension ladder.

"The fire service evacuated the surrounding properties and checked for fire spread and to ensure no-one else was inside the property."

A police spokesman said: "Lothian and Borders Police are currently working alongside colleagues at the fire service to determine the circumstances surrounding this tragic incident."

A spokeswoman for Edinburgh City Council said yesterday that no families were taken into temporary accommodation.