Hero off-duty soldier's desperate bid to save woman trapped inside burning flat
A brave off-duty soldier who battled to save a woman from a burning flat has spoken of the terrifying ordeal.
The fire broke out at the flat on Carlile Walk on the Tilery estate of Stockton on Monday night and police have now confirmed a woman tragically died in the incident. Mason Gill told Teesside Live how he fought through thick, black smoke on the stairs leading to the flat in a desperate bid to rescue her.
For the next 30 seconds or so, he tried in vain to break down the door, which he believes was locked, before fire crews arrived and took over the rescue attempt. The 22-year-old from Norton had been driving home from a friend's house in Tilery, just around the corner, when he saw crowds of people outside the flat. Some were crying, he said.
READ MORE: Tilery fire aftermath: Flat's windows blackened and scorched as forensic officers investigate
"I saw lots of smoke and I was concerned," he said. "I parked my car up and, as I went round to the front, I could see lots of people who were crying. I said to them, 'Is there someone still in there?' They said yes and pointed at the first bedroom.
"You couldn't see a thing at the window, it was just black. For a second I thought, 'Someone's stuck in there. I can't leave them, I will have to try and help them.'"
Mason ran into the ground floor of the flat and fought through acrid black smoke on the stairs to reach the room. "As I was going up the stairs I don't know what caught my leg but something burned a hole through my tracksuit bottoms," he said. "I couldn't see as it was full of black smoke. As I got to the door of the bedroom where they said it was, it was locked.
"So I was trying to barge through it and a big wave of smoke hit me in the face. I sat coughing and as I tried to get through the door again all the fire brigade came running up the stairs and told me to get out. Seconds later there were loads of police there and they had everything cordoned off."
Mason said he was trying to knock the door down for a period of between 30 seconds and a minute, as the choking black smoke plumed from the door. "I don't think she knew a way to get to the door or if something was blocking the door, or what," he said.
Once outside, paramedics carried out breathing checks on Mason and he was given oxygen in an ambulance. He serves with the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers at Thirsk and was on leave on Tuesday.
He said he woke up with a tight chest and sore throat from the smoke he had inhaled. Despite the ordeal he faced, Mason told Teesside Live: "I'm alright."
The fire broke out at around 9pm. Three fire engines attended, along with several police and ambulance vehicles and remained at the scene until around 11.15pm. Forensic teams and plain clothes detectives then began to arrive. Sharing the sad news of the woman's death on Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Cleveland Police said: "Police attended a report of a fire at a property on Carlile Walk in Stockton around 9.15pm on Monday, October 14.
"Sadly, the body of a woman was found in the property. Officers have informed the woman’s family and our thoughts remain with them at this extremely difficult time. Enquiries are continuing along with Cleveland Fire Brigade to establish the cause of the fire, which is currently being treated as unexplained."
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