LANGLEY MILL FIRE: LATEST UPDATE

Amy Smith, 17, her six-month-old daughter Ruby and friend Edward Green, 17, died after the blaze took hold in the early hours of Sunday.

Edward escaped from the fire which killed Amy and Ruby but died himself after heroically running back into the flames at the flat on North Street, according to national newspaper reports.

He ran back into the flames, after escaping the top-floor flat, to try to save friend Amy and her baby.

Amy’s boyfriend Shaun Gaunt, 18, was among six people to escape the blaze – which police believe may have been started deliberately.

Ruby’s father Shaun Gaunt escaped from the fire after being rescued by neighbours, before shouting “help, my baby and girlfriend are inside,” according to neighbours.

Neighbours told the Daily Mirror that baby Ruby was born shortly before Christmas and said she was due to have open heart surgery after being born with defects.

It is understood the fire may have started in a car parked outside the house before spreading to the property.

Neighbours who tried to save the victims running to the scene with ladders claimed there had been at least two disputes outside in the hours before the tragedy.

One, who asked not to be named, said: “There was a argument with a group of lads in a car during the afternoon, and then a lad and a girl rowing in the street at about 8.30pm.

The young family are thought to have moved to Langley Mill in Derbyshire three weeks before the tragedy.

One rescuer said “The baby’s father survived, and is in hospital now. I have been told he was climbing down the ladder with the baby but slipped and nearly dropped her so passed her back to the mother. But after he had done so she collapsed.”

Another neighbour, Quinton Langton, helped rescue two terrified lads from the fire.

He told the Mirror: “They thought they were going to die The trapped pair were hanging out of a third floor window screaming ‘We can’t breathe, it’s too hot’.”

He added: “They were clinging onto a satellite dish and threatening to jump. We had ladders but they weren’t long enough.

“It was horrendous. They were pleading for help saying ‘We’re going to jump or we’ll die.’ One kept saying ‘My girlfriend, get her.’

“Someone appeared with a long extended ladder round the back and by a miracle we managed to get those lads to safety.”

His wife Suzanne, 52, who was the first to raise the alarm, told reporters: “I heard screaming and banging and ran outside to see a car on fire close to the front door and black smoke and flames pouring from the building. It was awful.”

Her husband added: “A lot of the place is wooden cladding and the fire ripped through it. Usually a moped is stored in hall and that may have fuelled the blaze.

Paul Barber, 33, who lives next door, said: “People were screaming ‘fire, fire’, the car was on fire and was pretty much gone, and it was going up the house.

“One man threw his son to safety from a window onto a mattress. It is just horrendous - they were a nice little family, a cute family.”

A total of six people managed to escape the fire.

Three were rescued by neighbours from the same second and third floor building where the trio perished. The other three were from an adjoining property.

Derbyshire’s Assistant Chief Fire Officer Gavin Tomlinson said: “We are keeping a totally open mind as to how the fire started. No cause has been ruled out. It will be very slow process . We will investigate every possible cause.”

Firefighters were initially called to a car fire at the premises.

He added: “It is too early to say if the fire was started deliberately.”

Mr Tomlinson said the blaze started on the ground floor. Wheelie bins at the front were also damaged.

Five people were treated in hospital for the effects of smoke inhalation.