A FAMILY had to hide in a balcony following a blaze in a stairwell, as a four-storey building filled with smoke.
Two children aged four and two had to be checked over by paramedics for smoke inhalation following the fire in the early hours of the morning.
Rubbish was set alight in a stairwell, causing the building in Glendevon Park, Winchborough to fill with smoke, Lothian and Borders fire and Rescue service said.
This caused the terrified family to flee to a second floor balcony.
Three fire crews rushed to the scene inWest Lothianafter receiving a call at 4.13 this morning.
They were able to lead the family to safety out of the smoke-filled building.
The blazing rubbish was put out using a high pressure hose reel.
The two children, a boy and a girl, did not require hospital treatment.
It is understood no one else was evacuated from the building inGlendevonPark, Winchborough.
The stairwell was badly damaged by smoke from the fire, which started on the second floor.
A Lothian and Borders fire and rescue service spokeswoman said: “There was a fire involving a rubbish in the stairwell of a block of flats.
“One family had to take refuge in a balcony.
“A male and a female child were checked by ambulance crews at the incident.”
