Woman who jumped from bedroom window as fire tore through Wolverhampton home 'lucky to be alive’
A woman has told of how she is "lucky to be alive" after leaping from a bedroom window as a fire ravaged through a Wolverhampton home.
Gabbi Tia-Newman said she made her escape as the fire took hold of the house in Sweetman Street in the Whitmore Reans area of Wolverhampton during the early hours.
At around 3am more than 40 firefighters tackled a blaze that engulfed the house, forcing the busy road to close and the neighbouring houses to be evacuated.
Gabbi, who said she was visiting the house with friends, said a few of them escaped the blaze after jumping from a second storey window.
West Midlands Ambulance Service confirmed no one was injured in the blaze.
Another resident John Rae said he saw people jumping out of a bedroom window and running from the building.
Gabbi said: "I'm so lucky to be alive. It happened so quickly, we were all just having a good time and then it happened.
"One second everything was fine and then people were shouting to get out, I had to go out the window to escape. It was terrifying."
Gabbi went on to describe the fear that ran through her as she escaped the blaze that engulfed the rest of the house.
The Wolverhampton resident said: "I was terrified. I would never expect anything like this to happen, I could honestly cry. I didn't think about it at the time because it was every man for themselves.
"I'm just glad everyone got out safe. It really could have been so much worse.
"I am really lucky I know that, it's just one of those things. I've never been through anything like this, ever."
Mr Rae, 59, of Sweetman Street, talked about seeing the blaze, he said: "The first I heard of it my sister told me to shut the windows there was so much smoke coming in.
"I looked out of my bedroom and there were these 15-ft flames coming from the window. I couldn't even see the roof. I'm really surprised anyone made it out of there to be honest."
The 59-year-old talked about seeing the people escape from the building, recalling how they were covered in smoke, he said: "I was watching this fire happen and you could see people jumping from the windows and running out of the building.
"It was unbelievable how many people were in the building to begin with. I'm not really surprised to be honest. We hardly get these types of fires around here."
A spokesperson for West Midlands Police confirmed that "the fire has seriously damaged the property, but that no one was injured."
The investigation continues but officers said it was being treated as arson.
