Fire crews escape ceiling crash rescuing woman from east London blaze

Emergency fire crews tackling a night-time blaze in east London had to evacuate when the ceiling crashed down on them.

Firefighters from Bethnal Green, Whitechapel and Shoreditch had just managed to rescue a woman from an upstairs window with an escape-ladder when the ceiling collapsed at the house in Bluebell Close, off King Edward Road in South Hackney, at 1am on Sunday.

“We were inside when the roof burned through and the ceiling came down on us,” said one fire-fighter involved. “It was a narrow escape, but we got out in time.

“The house was well ablaze when we got there and we were only just in time rescuing the woman from the first-floor. A few minutes later would have been critical.”

It took an hour to bring the blaze under control, which destroyed two adjoining terraced houses. Neighbours had to be evacuated while the blaze was being tackled. The fire crews managed to get back inside the house once the danger from the collapsed roof was over.

The rescued woman was unhurt. None of the firefighters was injured.