The neighbour of a property which was destroyed in a devastating house fire in Aberdeen has revealed she’s “lucky to be here”.
Speaking to The Press and Journal, she told of the terrifying moment she woke up to smoke and fire engines surrounding her home.
Her next-door neighbour’s house on Park Street was devastated by the blaze that tore through the property at 3am.
Her own home is smoke damaged.
Emergency services rushed to the scene of the housefire overnight with firefighters bringing the blaze under control.
The worst affected property lost its roof, while the neighbouring house sustained smoke-damaged.
It’s understood no one was injured.
‘I’ll all happened so quick’
Speaking in the aftermath of the blaze, the neighbour – who did not want to be named – said she was lucky to still be alive after the terrifying ordeal.
She said: “I don’t know what to say – I think I am just lucky to be here.
“I just woke up at 3.30am, something alerted me to the window and there was smoke.
“I shouted on my three girls, but by the time I did that the fire engines were already here – it all happened so quick.
“It was just panic. I don’t actually know what was going through my mind at that point – we were more concerned for next door. All I know is that they are safe and well.
“The damage is shocking, my mind is really all over the place at the moment – we have had to grab all of our stuff to take out of the house.
“We don’t have a place to go but we are going to talk to Sanctuary (housing association) right now – we will have a better idea after that.”
It’s understood the family whose property was destroyed have lost all their belongings, with the community now rallying around to replace items such as clothes.
Residents left ‘in shock’
Police had cordoned off the affected part of Park Street but have now left the scene.
Linda Montague, who lives nearby and recently moved from a RAAC affected property in Torry, told the P&J that she is “in shock”.
She added: “It was late before I fell asleep, but I never heard a thing. When I got up at the back of seven this morning, I saw it and I was like, ‘what the hell’s going on’.”
One woman, who was collecting her car from the area, said: “I hope there’s nobody inside, it’s a shame.”
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “We received a call at 3.19am this morning to reports of a fire in a dwelling on Park Street, Aberdeen.
“We sent four pumps and a high-reach appliance at 3.19am to the dwelling.
“The stop sign came through at 5.05am.”
She said that during the incident, crews from Altens, Central (Mounthooly), Dyce and North Anderson Drive stations attended using four breathing apparatuses, one main jet, a high-rise jet and thermal imagining technology.
Police advised people to avoid the area.
In a statement online, officers said: “Police Scotland officers in Aberdeen are currently dealing with an incident in Park Street.”
The road was closed at its junction with Constitution Street and East North Street, however, this has since reopened.
Conversation