Sleeping women trapped in blaze woken by cats

THREE women slept as a fire trapped them in their ground floor flat in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The fire started by the front door of the flat in Pennymead, Harlow, blocking their only exit.
The women told fire-fighters they did not remember hearing the fire alarm sound but had been woken instead by the noise of their cats.
They called fire crews at 1.10am and fire control operator Amy Gosling kept them on the phone until crews arrived.
Fire crews wearing breathing apparatus rescued them and gave them oxygen to treat them for smoke inhalation. 
A man in the flat above was also treated for smoke inhalation.
They used one hose reel to tackle the blaze and cleared the property of smoke.
Harlow Station Officer Steve Pritchard, incident commander, said: "The three women inside did exactly the right thing, they stayed in a bedroom with the door closed to keep smoke to a minimum.
"When we got to the property, we told them to stay inside until the fire was out and the flat ventilated, then it was a matter of leading them out to safety.
"Once Ambulance crews arrived at the scene, the casualties were left in their care."