Twenty residents have been rescued from the windows and balconies of a burning building in Sydney’s west.
Paramedics treated eight at the scene and sent five to hospital after the blaze started in the Villawood unit block at about 1am on Wednesday, New South Wales Fire and Rescue said.
VILLAWOOD | PHOTOS from f/fighting ops at unit block fire, Woodville Rd o'night. F/fighters rescued 20 ppl. pic.twitter.com/DTnLcX7M37
— Fire & Rescue NSW (@FRNSW) August 9, 2016
Fire and Rescue superintendent Ian Krimmer said when firefighters first arrived about 20 people were trapped on the top floor and couldn’t get out of the building because of smoke in stairwell.
Firefighters used ladders to access the building and rescue the occupants. A 72-year-old woman and two men, aged 65 and 70, were taken to Liverpool hospital in a stable condition.
Krimmer said the fire had been contained.
“At one point we were concerned about an occupant in one of the buildings but we have now been able to account for that person,” he told reporters at the scene.
“It appears as if the fire has started in one unit, spread up into the roof, through the roof and to adjoining units on the top floor.”
About 120 firefighters were still battling to contain the blaze on Wednesday morning and Villawood Road was closed to traffic.
Australian Associated Press contributed to this report
