Children Rescued From Bristol House Fire

Neighbours have rescued a three-year-old boy caught in a "roaring inferno" after a house caught fire.

The boy was handed out through the front window of the home to a neighbour who came out after hearing screams of "fire".

Flames engulfed the ground and first floor of the terraced property on Lodge Hill in Cossham, Bristol, shortly before 7am.

Nine people were inside the home, six of whom were helped by neighbours to escape the blaze, while a woman and two girls were rescued from the roof by fire crews.

At least two generations of one family are believed to have lived in the property, along with several dogs, one of which died in the fire.

Lionel Fear, who lives three doors up from the house, said: "I came downstairs to see the mother with three children on the lower roof and me and the neighbours put a ladder up, clambered up the ladder and brought as many of them down as we could until the fire brigade arrived.

"There was a three-year-old who was handed out through the front to a neighbour. I think he's very lucky to get out alive to be honest.

"It was a roaring inferno. At one stage, when I was up the ladder, something popped or a window blew.

"I was just carrying a baby down and it obviously scared the baby as some shards and shrapnel came out and landed on him."

The boy was taken to a specialist burns department. A baby, three other children, two teenagers and two adults were also taken to the hospital as a precaution.