A man has been airlifted to hospital and a dog has died after a fire broke out at a flat in Chippenham on Sunday evening (6 April).
Emergency services, including Wiltshire and Bath Air Ambulance, were called to the incident at Croft Court, in Westcroft, at around 6.30pm.
A man was rescued from a raging fire in the living room, with medics providing life-saving care outside the property – as many local residents watched on in the street.
He was stabilised before being taken to the air ambulance, where he received further treatment for around an hour.
At shortly after 9pm, the helicopter airlifted the casualty to the Major Trauma Centre at Southmead Hospital in Bristol – where he is fighting for his life.
Firefighters also attempted to save a dog using specialist equipment, however, it was pronounced dead a short time later.
In a statement, Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “Firefighters from Malmesbury, Warminster and Bradford on Avon were called to reports of a fire in a flat in Westcroft, Chippenham at 6.36pm yesterday.
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“On arrival crews found a significant fire in the living room of the flat. Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus extinguished the fire using two hose reels.
“One male occupant was rescued by the service and taken to hospital by air ambulance. Sadly, despite efforts to save it, one dog passed away at the scene.”
At the height of the incident, there were three fire engines, a fire officer, two ambulances, an ambulance operations officer, two Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) ambulances and two air ambulance crews – from Wiltshire and Bath Air Ambulance and Great Western Air Ambulance Charity.
Wiltshire Police confirmed that the fire service is leading the incident.
A force spokesperson said: “We responded to reports of a fire in Croft Court, West Croft, Chippenham at around 7.30pm yesterday (Sunday) to support our colleagues in the fire service.
“One person was taken to hospital with serious injuries.”
A Wiltshire and Bath Air Ambulance Charity spokesperson said: “[We were] called to an incident in Chippenham at 19:14 on Sunday 6 April and responded in our helicopter.
“Our critical care paramedics assisted on scene before airlifting a patient to Southmead Hospital.”
