Woman Rescued From Burning Flat

Southampton firefighters pulled an unconscious woman from her flat during a dramatic rescue from a fire in Shirley last night (January 3).

Crews from St Mary's were called to Landguard Road just before 7.40pm.

They discovered smoke issuing from the window of the ground floor flat and two firefighters used breathing apparatus and a thermal imaging camera to find and rescue the woman from the building.

The woman, believed to be in her early 40s, was unconscious and not breathing, so firefighters performed resuscitation until ambulance crews arrived. They then continued to work with paramedics to get the woman breathing, before she was taken to hospital, where she spent last night in intensive care.

Fire investigators will return to the property today (January 4) to determine the cause of the fire, but it is not thought to be suspicious.

Station Manager Rob Cole, officer in charge of the incident, said: "The speed of response of the initial crews in entering the flat and performing the rescue of the woman provided their colleagues with the best possible opportunity to try to revive her.

"The actions of the firefighters in performing emergency CPR before the ambulance crew arrived then also improved her chances of survival. Working closely with the paramedics, they were able to restore the woman's breathing before she was taken to hospital."

A total of 14 firefighters dealt with the incident. The fire was out by 8.54pm.