Edinburgh fire: NHS nurse helped pull man out of burning flat in Gorgie

An NHS nurse and his neighbour pulled a man out of a burning building at Slateford Gait on Tuesday morning.

Garrie Neill, 41, who works as an NHS nurse for CAMHS, was walking his dog in the Gorgie area on Tuesday at around 7.30am, when he spotted black smoke coming out of a flat.

Mr Neill and a neighbour, who was also standing nearby, then heard someone shouting for help.

The pair rushed towards the ground-floor property, jumped the balcony, and entered through a glass door. Inside the flat, they found a man lying on the floor.

The neighbour and Mr Neill then dragged the man out of the flat and onto the grass outside.

Crews from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service arrived within ten minutes to deal with the blaze.

The Scottish Ambulance Service was also in attendance at the scene. The neighbour and the man found inside the flat were both looked over by paramedics.

Firefighters arrived on the scene soon after Mr Neill and a neighbour dragged a man out of the burning building on Slateford Gait. (Photo credit: Garrie Neill)

Mr Neill was unharmed by the fire. Talking about the experience, he said: "It didn’t seem real, and it all happened very quickly”.

He praised the emergency services, and said: “They responded extremely quickly and were very helpful”.

“I’m very grateful for them”.

He also thanked the neighbour who helped him rescue the man trapped inside. “He went straight into the house with no hesitation”, Mr Neill said.

NHS nurse Garrie Neill helped save a man from a burning building.

“Without him I couldn’t get the guy out”.

This morning, a Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) spokesperson said: "We were alerted at 7.46am on Tuesday, May 31 to reports of a dwelling fire in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh.

"Operations Control mobilised five fire appliances to the scene at Slateford Gait, where firefighters were met by a fire within a ground floor property.

"Crews rescued two casualties from the property before transferring them into the care of the Scottish Ambulance Service.

"Firefighters thereafter extinguished the fire and made the area safe before leaving the scene."

SFRS has been contacted for further comment.