A WOMAN WAS rescued and a man jumped from a burning Shropshire home as flames ripped through the property early today.

Firefighters arrived to hear Laura Smith shouting out for help from the first floor bedroom of the burning house after she was cut off from the staircase by flames and smoke.

Miss Smith’s brother Sam had already escaped through a window as fire took hold of their home on Severn Terrace, in Smithfield Road, Shrewsbury, shortly after 3am.

Both were treated at the scene before being taken to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

Miss Smith said this afternoon: “I woke up and couldn’t see a thing. There were flames coming from the bedroom door. I looked out of the window and saw the fire brigade coming. I couldn’t breathe so I opened the window, sat back on my bed and waited for the fire brigade.

Carried

The scene at Smithfield Road, Shrewsbury, this morning

“They put the fire out before they came and got me because I was on the second floor. I was sat on my bed so I got up and held onto the firefighters and they carried me out. I had a training session that day so I used my fire training and hid under my blanket. I saw the ambulance so I was quite comfortable.”

Her dad Mark praised firefighters. He said: “If it was not for the fire service, Laura wouldn’t have come out, so it is all praise for them.”

Twenty-five firefighters from Shrewsbury and Wellington fire stations were involved in fighting the flames at the height of the incident, which was brought under control in about an hour.

Smithfield Road had to be closed in both directions while firefighters worked at the scene, and this lunchtime one lane towards the town centre remained closed.

Rob Corfield, incident commander at Shrewsbury Fire Station, said: “There was a lot of damage to the staircase. It was extremely hazardous for crews, they have done an exceptional job in saving the girl and preventing the fire from spreading.”

West Midlands Ambulance Service said the fire was discovered by one of its officers who was passing the scene and who alerted fire and ambulance controls and evacuated neighbouring properties.

By John Kirk