Mum wouldn’t leave her ‘soulmate’ in fatal blaze

TRAGEDY: Fife woman who died in house fire refused to flee to safety with neighbour without her husband

A grieving daughter has revealed her mother died in a house fire because she refused to leave her “soulmate” who she believed was trapped inside. Melissa Shaw described the tragic incident on Friday which resulted in the death of her beloved mother Gail Lamb as a “tragic love story”. Gail, 55, stayed in her burning house in Saline, Fife, on Friday night, because she thought husband Derek was still inside. But Derek, 62, had already escaped the inferno through the back of the house – unbeknown to his devoted wife. Neighbours tried to save Gail by climbing up a ladder to the top floor of their two-storey house but she refused to leave, saying: “Where is Derek?” Melissa, 35, told the Dunfermline Press: “It’s like a tragic love story. “My mum and Derek were just made for each other and idolised each other,” she said. Neighbour Shelley White said: “I saw the fire and ran outside but by this time my neighbours had already rung the emergency services. “You could feel the heat from the house and the smoke was immense.” “Our neighbour, Sid, grabbed Gail’s hand from the top of the ladders and told her to get out but all she said was: ‘Where is Derek?’ “She went back into the house looking for him but Sid managed to grab her hand for a second time and he was just screaming at her to get out but she wouldn’t leave Derek. “There was nothing we could do, the fire was too bad.” Derek and Gail had been together for nearly 30 years. The couple were both in bed asleep at the time of the fire and Gail woke up first. Both exits of the house were completely blocked by flames so she screamed for help at the front of the building while Derek shouted at the back. He then managed to escape through the back of the property but had said that he couldn’t see a thing and he had “no idea” where his wife was. Gail was later pronounced dead at the scene. Floral tributes have been left outside the couple’s home since the tragic fire.

Picture: David Wardle. The two-storey house in Saline, Fife, was gutted by fire on Friday night.