Woman leaps from burning flat

A woman escaped from the second storey of a burning Dunedin flat by leaping into the arms of a heroic passer-by.

The woman was one of two people at home when the flat in Carroll St in Dunedin went up in flames.

The fellow tenant was on the ground floor when the fire began so was able to escape quickly. But as flames engulfed the internal stairs, a female tenant had no choice but to climb out a second storey window.

Senior station officer Justin Wafer said she managed to climb onto a lean-to roof over the adjoining flat before jumping from there into the arms of a passer-by.

She was treated for minor injuries as the result of the escape.

It is understood about 100 people gathered outside the burning flat after the fire broke out shortly before midday yesterday.

Wafer said firefighters contained the blaze ‘‘very quickly’’ but remained on the scene throughout the afternoon dampening down.

Wafer said he had ‘‘no idea’’ what started the fire. But fire investigators were at the site by 4pm to look for clues to its cause.

Early indications suggested the fire had started in the ground floor, possibly in the kitchen, before rapidly spreading through the building.

The flat and everything inside it had been destroyed by the fire.

The adjoining flat also sustained smoke, heat and water damage.