A heroic Aberdeen dad has described the moment he and his friend ran into a burning flat amid fears a child was still inside.
The blaze broke out at Cloverleaf Grange on Kepplehills Road, Bucksburn, just after midnight.
Neighbours raced to help while fire crews scrambled to the scene.
Darren Ewan, who lives across the road, was in bed watching TV when he heard the fire alarm and a scream.
The 31-year-old, who threw on some clothes and ran to help, described the flames as “massive”.
He ran inside the lobby, and along with his friend Steven Whyte, who lives in the building, helped guide people out while making their way to the burning property.
There, they came across a man trying to put some of the flames out with damp towels. As they urged him to stop and get to safety, he told them there might be a child inside.
The brave pair – who are both dads – pushed their way into the flat, and were immediately hit with thick smoke and pushed back by the flames.
‘Piles of black smoke’
Mr Ewan said: “Steven ran in first towards the room that was on fire, but when he opened the door, the oxygen sent the fire up a bit further.
“I just remember seeing orange light and then after that it was just piles of black smoke.
“I couldn’t see because the smoke was that black but I looked down and I shouted ‘there’s a guy'”.
Asthmatic Mr Ewan started dragging the man, who had been on a bed, out onto the landing where he also said he thought his child might still be inside.
However, before Mr Ewan and Mr Whyte went back inside to check, another neighbour shouted to them that the man’s wife and child were outside.
Before the pair had arrived, another resident had also tried to reach the man but had to retreat due to the smoke.
Gilbert Frankalconer, 65, crawled into the flat on his hands and knees to try to get to the man.
But he struggled to pull the man off the bed and had to leave after inhaling too much smoke and burning his hands.
Man, 47, taken to hospital
After the badly-burnt man was later dragged out by Mr Ewan, Mr Frankalconer said he got the man a chair so he could sit down.
“He was obviously disorientated and probably in shock as well,” he added. “And you could tell he was pretty badly burnt on his shoulder, the skin had all come off his shoulder.”
Police have confirmed a 47-year-old man was taken to hospital. Two other people were treated for smoke inhalation.
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: “We received a call at 12:03am on Friday, October 28, to attend an incident at Cloverleaf Grange, Aberdeen.
“Three ambulances, two of our special operation response teams and a rapid resuscitation response unit were dispatched to the scene.
“Several patients were treated at the scene and one patient was conveyed to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.”
Three fire crews from North Anderson Drive and Central battled the blaze for just over two hours, using hose reel jets and breathing apparatus.
One neighbour who lives in the Cloverleaf Grange block described seeing smoke “billowing out of the windows” as the crews tackled the blaze.
‘I did what anybody would have done’
A fire spokesman said: “We got the original call at 12.01am. We had two appliances from North Anderson Drive and one from Central Fire Station attend.
“We got there at 12.08am and left at 2.25am.”
A police spokesman said: “Police received a report of a fire at a property on Cloverleaf Grange in Aberdeen around 12.05am on Friday, October 28.
“The fire was extinguished by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and is not being treated as suspicious.
“A 47-year-old man was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary for treatment. Two people were treated for smoke inhalation.”
Mr Ewan said his thoughts were with the family who have lost their home.
Downplaying his actions, he said: “I wouldn’t have watched naebody burn. I would do that for anybody. I just did what any person would have done.
“It was just madness last night and I feel sorry for the family who don’t have a house to stay in.”
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