Man arrested after mother and baby rescued from fire at Tividale home

Police were called to the blaze at the flat above the Post Office in Elm Terrace by fire crews just before 4am.

An 18-year-old woman and her child were rescued from an upstairs bedroom, where they were trapped by smoke, after the fire broke out in a storage room on the ground floor.

The baby was passed through a window to firefighters on a ladder, before the woman was helped out.

A man at the property made his own way down.

The woman and baby were treated at the scene by paramedics, and the baby was taken to Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley as a precaution.

Police said today it was believed the fire was started deliberately. A 20-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life. He was due to be questioned by detectives later today.

Insp Pete Rowe, from West Bromwich Police, said: "This was a serious incident that could have had really tragic consequences.

"Fortunately, the fire service were contacted in time and were able to safely evacuate the occupants and extinguish the fire before anyone was hurt.

"An investigation to determine the exact cause of the fire is continuing this morning and we would ask anyone with information about what happened to contact us immediately." Tipton crew commander Paul Sears said: "Firefighters got some ladders up and the baby was passed through the window and carried down.

"We led the young female down and the man came down on his own," he added.

"The family were on the phone to fire control throughout, trapped upstairs by the smoke.

"The cause of the fire is being investigated, but it was a small fire in a downstairs storage room, which was damaged," he added.

Nearby resident Keith Davey, aged 58, said he was woken up at about 4am.

He said: "I looked out the window and saw all the fire engines, and police."

Around 15 firefighters from Tipton, Dudley and Oldbury stations attended to deal with the blaze.