By Stefan Morkis

A TEENAGE girl and five young children had to flee from their Dundee home last night as flames leapt from the windows of the burning building.

Donna-Marie King (16) and her three younger sisters and two younger brothers fled when fire broke out in an upstairs bedroom around 7.30.

They were able to escape into the street before the fire spread through the house in Fleming Gardens South.

Donna-Marie, Andrew (11), Nicola (9), Kirsty (6), Sammy (5) and 23-month-old Shaun were unharmed.

Fire crews found the building well alight and flames coming out of the first-floor windows.

They evacuated neighbours before tackling the blaze, which they soon had under control.

Stewart King, the children’s father, had left home 15 minutes before the blaze began.

He said, “I’d gone to have a game of darts and got a phone call to say that the house was on fire.

“We’re supposed to be moving house tomorrow, so everything that was packed in boxes and ready to go has been lost in the fire. A lot of it is irreplaceable, but the main thing is that everybody got out okay.”

Neighbour Gordon Ramsay had witnessed the blaze spreading through the property before being evacuated from his home.

“The flames were coming out of the window and I could see reflections of them on windows across the street as well,” he said.

The fire and rescue service sent three appliances to the scene, as well as an aerial ladder and breathing apparatus support unit.

Station Officer Gordon Brown said, “We responded here from Macalpine Road Fire Station and when we arrived the building was well alight and flames were coming from the first-floor bedroom and the fire was spreading to the roofspace.

“The premises had been evacuated prior to our arrival.

“However we had to check to make sure, and we then evacuated other homes in the building,” he added.

“Making sure that everyone is safe is our main concern.

“We then tackled the fire using a hosereel and six sets of breathing apparatus.”

He added that the cause of the blaze was under investigation.

Firefighters managed to prevent the blaze from taking a hold in the roofspace.

He said it had been lucky the fire happened when it did. “There was a smoke alarm that was triggered, but it was fortunate it happened when it did and not during the night when everyone was asleep.”