Mother and daughter rescue neighbours from fire in Greenock

Linda Bain and her 14-year-old girl Jade McDonald stepped into action when the devastating blaze tore through the property on Wren Road.

Linda, 46, and Jade - who was alerted to the fire after taking a bowl of macaroni and cheese to her neighbours - dragged a woman and her daughter from the blazing property.

After seeing the flames burning through the top window of the home, Linda bravely ran in to help her neighbour.

With her hands trembling whilst describing the terrifying incident, she said: “She was trying to get something, and I was telling her she needed to get out.

“At that point it was thick black smoke, the electrics had gone, and you couldn’t see anything. It was scary.

“The smoke was so thick it was like you could pick it out of the air.

“I don’t know why or how I did it, but I ran up the stairs and grabbed what I thought was her arm to pull her down the stairs.

“It turned out to be her leg and somehow, I managed to pull her right down the stairs and out the door.

“Her face was black with soot, it’s still all over my fingers today.

“I don’t know what I was thinking in that moment, I just went into autopilot.

“When I grabbed her I looked into the front bedroom and I could see there was nothing left of the base of the divan, it was dripping plastic and on fire.

“The mattress was in flames and I could feel the heat, other than the blackness that was all you could see.

“The fire brigade got here fabulously fast, but the fire was even faster.”

Both casualties were taken to hospital following the fire, and rescue workers remained on the scene for hours clearing the burnt-out building.

Jade had taken a bowl of mac and cheese around to her neighbour’s house and was making small talk on her porch when they became aware of the fire.

She said: “When I went round, we were just chatting and having a normal conversation in the porch and her wee girl was up the stairs I think.

“Then the fire alarm went off and we gave each other a bit of a look, she handed me the mac and cheese back and ran up the stairs.

“Her wee girl went up after her and then I heard her scream to me that the house was on fire.

“I bolted up the stairs and the little girl ran into the back room because she must have got a fright.

“I grabbed her, ran back out and into our house then started screaming to my mum that the house was on fire.

“My mum dropped everything and ran out in her socks, and I followed her then phoned 999.”

Linda told the Telegraph that she and Jade had been badly shaken by the incident.

She said: “It was surreal, it was one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever been through.

“We sat up all night and slept in the living room together because I was just so scared.

“I’m so proud of Jade, the way she reacted was amazing.

“I think if Jade had gone to her pals last night and not been here making the dinner they could have died and smoke damage could have got us too.

“I just hope everyone next door is ok, it’s just after Christmas too, it looks like toys are all burnt and charred. It’s heartbreaking.

“I’ve tried to get in touch with them this morning but not had any luck, my heart just goes out to them.

“Everybody round here will pitch in and help them get back on their feet, but it’s just devastating that this has happened.”

A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: "We were alerted at 8.37pm on Thursday, 4 January to reports of a dwelling fire in Greenock.

"Operations Control mobilised four fire appliances to the town's Wren Road, where firefighters extinguished the fire and worked to make the area safe before leaving the scene.

"Two casualties were transported to hospital by Scottish Ambulance Service personnel."