8:15am Friday 14th March 2008
Residents today told how they were at the centre of a rescue drama when a fireball swept through their block of flats in Southampton.
Firefighters rescued 23 people from the flats in Wimpson Lane, Millbrook.
No one was hurt in the incident but 12-month-old baby Lee Dawson was taken to hospital for a check-up.
His dad Aaron Dawson, 26, an electrician, told how he woke up to the sound of screams and smoke alarms at around 2.30am.
He said: "I opened the front door and the smoke was very thick.
"I probably would have been able to make my escape if I had been on my own but I knew I wouldn't be able to manage with my 12-month-old son Lee.
"The firefighters told me to wait in my flat and just keep the bedroom window open.
"About half an hour later they came to rescue us.
"It hit me a couple of times that we might not escape but luckily we did."
It started when a fireball was sent through the building when the fuel tank of a motorbike stored in a bin shed at the back of the block ruptured.
Baby Lee, who suffers from asthma, was taken to Southampton General Hospital by Aaron and his girlfriend Karmel Smith, 21, where he was given the all-clear.
Another resident, mum-of-three Sarah Murphy, 23, told of the moment she was confronted by a wall of smoke as she tried to escape.
Sarah, whose children were staying with their grandmother overnight, said: "I was lying awake in my bed when I saw some blue flashing lights through the window.
"I looked out and saw it was the fire engine and opened my front door where I was met with big thick black smoke.
"I have never seen anything like it before and closed the door before going on to the balcony where firefighters rescued me and my partner."
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