BY IAN CROUCH
Four people have jumped from the third floor after fire engulfed a unit at Cooks Hill overnight.
Around 40 firefighters from six stations and the Hazmat Unit were called to the 3 storey unit block on Parkway Avenue just after 10.30pm on Tuesday November 16 to find a ground floor unit engulfed in flames and several people on the ground suffering various injuries.
They'd broken a window of a top floor unit to escape the intense heat and smoke which was coming through their front door.
Newcastle Fire Command says crews had the fire under control within half an hour and fully extinguished by around 12.30am on Wednesday, with the blaze confined to the one unit
Four people were taken to the John Hunter Hospital with suspected fractures and orthopaedic injures.
A fifth person was rescued from a second storey unit by firefighters using a ladder and taken to hospital suffering smoke inhalation.
12 people were evacuated from the unit block.
Police have set up a crime scene and forensic police will commence their investigation on Wednedsay morning.
