AN ELDERLY woman was rushed to hospital with serious burns after a blaze at her home last night.
Paramedics reported the 62-year-old had burns right through her skin around her stomach.
The fire, in Stenhouse Gardens North in Edinburgh, is thought to have been caused by cigarettes.
Fire crews used a high pressure hose reel to extinguish the flames in the flat, and four sets of breathing gear.
A neighbour of the elderly woman called the fire brigade after a smoke alarm went off.
Firefighters rushed to the scene after receiving a call at 9.50pm last night.
They called in paramedics after discovering the badly injured woman in the living room.
The woman also suffered slight burns to her thigh in the blaze.
There is not thought to be extensive damage to the property.
A fire service spokesman said: “Smoking materials are believed to be the cause of the fire. Neighbours raised the alarm.”
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We attended the location at the request of the fire brigade.
“We transported a 62-year-old woman to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. She had burns to her abdomen and superficial burns to her thighs.”
The spokesman said she had ‘full thickness’ burns to her abdomen, wounds which burn all the way through the skin.
She is still thought to be in hospital after the ordeal, though her condition is unknown.
