Woman rescued from severe blaze

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A WOMAN was airlifted to hospital after being rescued by firefighters from a severe fire in her Evesham home.

The fire service received a call on Wednesday (June 20) at just before 6pm from a man who had managed to escape from the flat in Hemmingway.

Crews from Evesham, Pebworth and Pershore attended, with the first crew arriving within minutes.

They were confronted with a well-developed fire in the ground floor flat and one woman reportedly still inside.

Two firefighters in breathing apparatus entered the property and the woman was quickly found, brought out and given emergency first aid by firefighters until paramedics arrived at the scene.

The woman was then taken by air ambulance to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

Watch Commander Russell Broadbent said: "Crews were faced with some very difficult conditions but worked quickly and effectively to rescue the woman.

"The intensity of the fire meant that access through the front door wasn’t possible, and so firefighters had to break the glass in a front window and gain entry that way. The woman was then rescued through the back of the property."

The woman remains in hospital in a stable condition.

The man who raised the alarm was also checked by paramedics at the scene but is not believed to have required treatment. There was severe fire damage in the living room of the flat following the blaze and extensive heat and smoke damage throughout the rest of the property.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is now underway.

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