A QUIET Sunday at the end of September 1956 ended in tragedy for one family after a fire at their top-flat home in a street in Glasgow.
For nearly 15 minutes the terrified mother sat on the window-sill, clutching her year-old son, while her husband, overcome by heat and fumes, lay unconscious on a burning bed, The Bulletin reported.
Crowds who gathered in the street fifty feet below held out blankets, expecting the woman to jump.
One neighbour, who lived across from the flat, said: “When I looked out of the window and saw the woman and the baby I had to turn away. I was sure she was going to jump.”
The woman and baby were, however, saved by neighbours who broke down the door and entered the flat.
While others cleared a path with buckets of water, one 27-year-old man sprinted to the window, grabbed the child, and helped the woman to safety. They were taken to hospital (the photograph shows the baby being conveyed to an ambulance by a police officer) but neither of them was detained.
The husband was rescued by firemen and rushed to hospital but sadly died early the following morning.
The neighbour who rescued the woman and baby told The Bulletin: “We broke the door down and I went in. Light from the window guided me through the smoke” to the woman.
“She handed me the baby and hung onto my arm as I went out,” the man added.
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