Three kids were among eight people rescued from a burning building in Swindon.
Emergency services were called to a blaze at a block of flats in Silbury Mews, Moredon, shortly after 7.30pm on Saturday evening (28 February).
A fire had taken hold in communal hallway of the property – with items including a pushchair going up in flames.
A family – two adults and three children – called 999 to report that their first-floor flat had become smoke logged and they were unable to leave.
Call handlers provided advice on surviving while fire crews raced to the scene. The family were subsequently recused via a window and ladder.
Three others, in an adjacent first-floor flat, were also rescued via a ladder. Two people in a ground-floor flat were able to escape on foot.
Wiltshire Police has since confirmed that an investigation into the circumstances is underway – with forensics and detectives on scene on Sunday (1 March).
A spokesperson for Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service said: “We were called to Silbury Mews in Moredon, Swindon at 7.38pm on Saturday (28 February) after a fire was reported in the hallway of a block of flats.
“Crews attended from Westlea, Swindon and Stratton (2), and two breathing apparatus wearers and one hose reel jet were used to extinguish the fire.
“The initial 999 call came from a family in a first floor flat; the heavy smoke meant they were unable to leave safely, so they were given fire survival guidance by Fire Control until firefighters arrived and were able to bring two adults and three children to safety using a ladder.
“A further three people from a neighbouring first floor flat were also brought to safety via ladder, and two people from a ground floor flat were walked to safety.
“Our stop was at 9.17pm and investigations into the cause of the fire are ongoing.”
Anyone with information about the origin of the fire should call police on 101 and quote crime reference number 54260024897.
