TWO elderly ladies were overcome by smoke after fire broke out in a block of flats in Tadworth.
The pair were lucky to be spotted by firefighters after collapsing in a stairwell after a blaze broke out in a ground floor flat.
Four fire crews were scrambled to the scene in Hatch Gardens at 12.45am this morning.
The fire is believed to have broken out after a resident fell asleep while smoking. She managed to escape from her flat. However, smoke poured up the stairwell and two other residents, who had been alerted by smoke alarms and come out of their flats, were overcome in the stairwell.
Crews from Reigate, Leatherhead and two pumps from Epsom were all called to the scene.
Firefighter Tim Agent said: "A stairwell acts like a chimney.
"The lady in the ground floor flat opened her front door and just about managed to get out. Her neighbours were coming out of their flats, coming onto the stairwell and they were all overcome by smoke.
He said they collapsed on the stairs, adding: "The first team were initially dealing with the flat fire, then they noticed the ladies sitting on the stairs. They were conscious but coughing and spluttering.
"We carried them all out and gave them oxygen. They all went off to hospital."
The bedroom of the ground floor flat was left fire-damaged, with the rest of the home filled with smoke.
