Published: Thursday, 6th March, 2008 10:00
Mum and tot flee fire
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A YOUNG mum and her two-year-old daughter had a lucky escape when a fire gutted the flat next door to their Prestonpans home.
Six other tenants in the same block at New Street were forced to flee as smoke spread.
Later, a gas cylinder was discovered in the fire-ravaged bedroom of the flat. Had it exploded, said County fire chief Robert Taylor, it could have killed the mum, her daughter and firefighters.
The drama began last Wednesday evening with neighbours banging repeatedly on the door of student Kierian Cameron, urging her to get out fast, as flames leapt from the first-floor council flat next door.
Said Kierian:“It was just after six when there were loud bangs on my door and people shouting ‘Fire! Fire!’
“I only had time to pick up my daughter Brooke and my bag and get out.
“There were flames shooting out of the front of next door through the broken chipboard that had been put there a couple of weeks ago.”
The 21-year-old, who also works part-time as a receptionist in Edinburgh, said that she had not seen her next door neighbour for several weeks.
“I think he’s been away,” she said. “But there were some comings and goings at the weekend and strange music was being played in the flat.”
Kierian, still recovering from the incident, said she could not help but be reminded of the incident in the German town of Ludwigshafen last month when a baby was thrown from a blazing building.
That could so easily have been the fate of her own child, she said.
“I have these images of Brooke being thrown down to people in the street below. It’s terrifying,” she added.
“The fire was through the wall from her bedroom and last Thursday you could still feel the heat there.
“One of the firemen, who was very helpful, told me that they reckon the fire was started by a cigarette left burning on a mattress.”
County fire chief Robert Taylor said: “The fire started in the bedroom, which was totally destroyed.
“It would appear that it was caused by a discarded cigarette.
“The rest of the flat suffered severe smoke damage, as did the common stairwell.” Mr Taylor confirmed that four other flats in the block sustained smoke damage. Fortunately, none of the six people evacuated from neighbouring flats required treatment.
He said that firefighters from Newcraighall, Musselburgh and Tranent spent over an hour tackling the blaze and needed breathing apparatus to make a search of the property. The flat was found to be unoccupied at the time of the fire.
A gas cylinder used in a portable heater was discovered in the bedroom where the fire started, said Mr Taylor.
“The temperatures caused by the fire were not enough to normally cause the cylinder to explode. But if it had been faulty, it could have had fatal consequences for the people living next to the flat or the firefighters who dealt with the fire.”
A spokeswoman for East Lothian Council confirm that the flat was owned by the local authority.
“Our property management team have been down to assess the damage and they are currently preparing a report,” she said.
“Until that happens, it is too early to say what the level of damage is, the cost of the damage and what is needed to restore it.”
She added: “We cannot comment on individual tenancy agreements and therefore cannot provide any details on who was living there.”
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