‘I heard a window smashing, looked out and saw all
NEIGHBOURS have spoken of their shock and fear at a blaze which broke out inside a house in the city’s West End, writes Tom Mack.
No one was home at the terraced property, which was left blackened throughout, with its front room gutted.
Neighbours in Chartley Road called 999 at about 11.30am yesterday.
Four fire crews from across the city arrived to put out the blaze, which was so ferocious the front window was blown out.
Eva Hatuleva, 32, who lives across the street, said she was very worried about the gas supply causing an explosion, especially in the wake of the death of four-year-old girl Sahara Salman, in Croydon, earlier this week.
She said: “I was upstairs when I heard the sound of a window smashing and other strange noises.
“I looked out of the window and saw all the flames in the downstairs and a lot of smoke, too.
“I was really shocked and running around the house, worrying about it the speed it could spread and the chance of a gas explosion, after that one recently. A fire like that can be really dangerous.”
She said the fire service arrived within about five minutes and soon had it under control.
She said she had not seen anyone living at the property in the five years she had lived in Chartley Road and had assumed it was empty.
The terraced homes next door to the two-bedroom house were evacuated while the fire service tackled the flames.
Police also attended and shut off the road to traffic.
Another neighbour from over the road, Aiden McDonald, 32, said: “I heard a bang, like an explosion, and I