A nurse who was led to safety after a blaze broke out in an Aberdeen flat has spoken of her ordeal.
Rachel Elder, 23, was watching TV at her home in Spital, Old Aberdeen, when she noticed smoke coming from the property downstairs at around 3.35pm on Thursday.
Within minutes she was forced to hold her head out of the window as she desperately gasped for air.
Firefighters smashed down the door to lead her and her pet dog, Minnie, to safety.
Last night, Miss Elder said: “It was just the most terrifying thing.
“I must have only been trapped for around 20 minutes but when smoke is engulfing the room it feels like forever.
“While I was waiting I was burning up with the stress and the fear – people were shouting at me to get out of the building.
“But there was too much smoke – I said I was going to climb out of the window but the smoke was too bad.”
It is understood the fire started in the flat downstairs, which has been vacant for the eight months following the death of the owner.
Miss Elder’s boyfriend Hamish Renfrew, 28, a sales manager, had been in a meeting when he received a frantic phone call from his partner, screaming that the building was on fire and she was trapped.
Having stuffed a duvet at the door to stop the smoke getting in, Miss Elder could only wait for help as the fire continued to spread.
When firefighters arrived, she insisted they rescue Minnie – a cross between a miniature poodle and a bichon frise – first.
She said: “I can’t thank the fire and ambulance crews enough.
“When the firefighters arrived they brought me oxygen and led me down the stairs – you couldn’t see anything it was just a complete haze.
“The whole thing was traumatic for me and my dog, she’s just a puppy. There is that possibility that you might not make it out.”
Miss Elder was released from hospital yesterday having been treated for smoke inhalation.
The couple’s flat escaped with smoke damage.
Police and fire officers are investigating the cause of the blaze.