A woman has suffered burns to her hands while trying to rescue her dog from a unit fire at Wallsend.
Firefighters from Wallsend, Minmi and Mayfield West were called to Davis Street just before 3.00pm on Monday to find a large amount of black smoke coming from the unit.
Police say the occupants of the other units in the block were safely evacuated.
The injured woman was taken to hospital for treatment.
Sadly her dog died in the fire.
The unit was destroyed and the remaining apartments were damaged by smoke and water - police say those residents have not been able to return.
It took crews three hours to extinguish and mop up the fire.
It's understood a gas heater left on caused the fire.
