An off-duty soldier who valianty tried to save a woman from a blazing flat has spoken about the harrowing tragedy.
The fire erupted at a home on Carlile Walk, in Stockton, on Monday, and it has now been confirmed that the woman lost her life.
Mason Gill spoke to Teesside Live about his battle against the dense smoke engulfing the staircase as he attempted to reach the flat and perform the rescue.
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(Image: Terry Blackburn)
For around half a minute, he desperately tried to break down what he thought was the locked door before the arrival of the firefighters who then proceeded with the rescue operations. The 22-year-old Norton native was returning from a mates’ gathering in Tilery just moments prior when he spotted groups of people outside the burning flat, many visibly distraught.
“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.”
He added: “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 heroically charged into the fray in an attempt to rescue people trapped on the top floor of the smoke-engulfed building. Braving the dense smoke, he recalled the terrifying ordeal: “As I was going up the stairs I don’t know what caught my leg but something burned a hole through my tracksuit bottoms,” and further detailed, “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.”
The situation grew even more dire as Mason struggled with the door: “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.”
He also described his desperate attempts to break down the door amid the life-threatening conditions.
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He said: “I don’t think she knew a way to get to the door or if something was blocking the door, or what.”
Following his brave actions, paramedics performed breathing checks on Mason, and he required oxygen support in an ambulance. Serving with the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers at Thirsk, he had been enjoying leave on Tuesday when the incident occurred.
The fire tore through a home on Carlile Walk in Stockton as emergency services dashed to the scene. Battling the blaze from 9pm until 11.15pm, the fire brigade was backed up by police and ambulance squads.
As forensics and detectives swarmed in, Cleveland Police broke the heart-wrenching news: “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.”