Hero saves woman from rubble after explosion ripped through home

02 December 2023 , 16:58

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The property after a suspected gas explosion (Image: PA)

A hero neighbour has told how he pulled a woman from the burning rubble of a suspected gas explosion that destroyed a home and killed a pensioner.

Army reservist Steven MacLennan, 50, rescued the injured 43-year-old woman from the scene of the blast in Edinburgh where an 84-year-old man, named locally as James Smith, died.

Steven had been relaxing at his house on Friday night when he heard a huge blast erupt from a nearby street at around 10.25pm. He sprinted to Baberton Mains Avenue where he found a home had been completely demolished in the explosion.

But when he heard someone crying for help, he bravely crawled into a gap in the debris to find a woman pinned to the ground by rubble as a fire burned around her. And using his 20 years of experience in the armed forces, he then helped her out of the destroyed residence to safety.

Jim Smith, 84, has been named locally as the man who lost his life in the horror blast

He said: "We were just watching TV when we heard this incredibly loud bang. All the doors and windows in the house shook. I came out the house and there were quite a few people in the street already. Whatever it was had happened in a street round the corner, so I ran to find out what was going on.

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"It was just carnage. People running about in chaos. Like being in a bubble. But my training did help. I shouted at her to ask if she could feel the fire, and she said she could. There was a pipe which was gushing out water and I was able to bend it and direct the water onto the flames.

The scene on Baberton Mains Avenue, Edinburgh (PA)

"It was quite a flexible pipe, and I was able to douse the flames and put them out before they could get to her. She was still pinned - I think there was a cupboard on her legs. I was able to get it off, but she was still trapped. I asked her if she could move her legs and she could, and she was able to crawl out."

While Steven was performing the rescue, other neighbours arrived and were able to help get an injured man to safety. And they also helped to clear a path for him and the woman to get out before emergency services arrived and took the pair to hospital.

It is thought the 84-year-old who died was in an adjacent house, though this has not been confirmed. Police said there are no suspicious circumstances to the blast, which is being investigated. A number of homes were evacuated as a precaution and the road, remained closed on Saturday morning.

The scene of the incident on Baberton Mains Avenue

Steven, who also who runs self-catering properties in his day job, said he had taken part in training exercises which had given him some experience of sudden life-or-death situations. He added: "I've never experienced anything like that before, but we do training exercises where we don't know what's coming, and we learn first aid."

Tim Hanlon