Woman rescued from flat fire

AN unconscious woman was dragged to safety from a blaze in her flat last night.

Firefighters found the 25-year-old woman collapsed in her bedroom after a sofa went up in flames.

The fire is thought to have been caused by a lit cigarette.

Crews from Hollins and Oldham rushed to the ground-floor flat, in Durham Street, Werneth, after a neighbour raised the alarm shortly before 11.25pm.

Hollins Watch Commander Peter Shaw said: “The flat was completely smoke-logged, when the crews initially arrived they thought the flat was empty.

“We broke in and found the woman in the bedroom. The sofa had been burning for a while and had virtually burnt out to nothing.”

The unconscious woman was dragged to safety by firefighters and trauma technicians revived her with oxygen therapy.

She was taken by paramedics to the Royal Oldham Hospital. Firefighters have now warned about the need for safety devices as the flat was not fitted with a smoke alarm.

Mr Shaw said: “She had a lucky escape, it was a neighbour’s fire alarm that alerted us.

“It just shows the importance of having a fire alarm fitted.”