Residents jumped from balcony to escape flat fire

The fire happened at a ground floor flat in Niddrie Mill

Residents of a flat block have told how they had to jump from a balcony onto a mattress to escape a fire in Edinburgh.

Ten people were taken to hospital after a blaze broke out in a ground floor property on Niddrie Mill Crescent at about 18:30 on Wednesday.

Andrew Bond, 36, said he, his partner and his cousin were forced to jump from the second floor after “thick black smoke” filled the stairwell.

Police Scotland said it was investigating the cause of the blaze. All ten people were later released from hospital after checks.

Mr Bond told BBC Scotland News that he initially ignored a fire alarm, assuming it was as a result of a neighbour cooking.

But he said his “lungs were starting to close up” when he discovered the smoke in the stairwell.

Andrew Bond dived onto the mattress from his balcony to escape the flames

Mr Bond alerted his partner and cousin and they went out to the balcony, where they saw a neighbour had placed a mattress in the garden.

He said: “We tried everything to get out the front way, but the smoke was too thick.

"My eyes were burning through the smoke. We just had to jump, we had no choice.

“I just basically vaulted straight over the balcony, landed on the mattress, just to get to safety.”

Fire and ambulance crews arrived a short time later and remained until 22:00.

Mr Bond and several neighbours were taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary as precautionary measure.

John Hill has lived in the block for 50 years

Residents returning to the scene on Thursday morning found their homes charred and covered in a thick layer of ash.

One neighbour, John Hill, said he had “never seen anything like it” in 50 years of living in the block.

He said: “If you were to ask me how scary that was out of 100, I would say 101.

“The whole place was covered in smoke. I tried to get down the stairs, but I fell on the stairs and I just thought ‘this is it’.

“When I went back in this morning, everything was just all black and manky”.

Police Scotland said officers remained at the scene.

A spokesperson added: “Inquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances.”