Woman taken to hospital as fire destroys salon

A woman has been taken to hospital following a fire that destroyed a hairdressing salon in County Tyrone.

Several people fled from their homes as the blaze on Market Street, Omagh, spread to neighbouring flats in the early hours of Sunday.

Five of the occupants of the flats were able to get out of their properties but one woman had to be rescued. She was taken to hospital to be treated for the effects of smoke inhalation.

The owner of the salon said: "In a matter of moments, everything we had worked so hard to build was gone."

"Our salon, our tools, our products, and so many memories that meant the world to us."

In a statement on Facebook, the owner of Couture Hair added that they were "heartbroken" and "trying to come to terms with what has happened".

They thanked their "wonderful clients, friends and families" for "all the love, messages and support" but said they "don't know exactly what comes next".

One resident, who was in his home listening to a podcast, said he smelt smoke in his flat.

"If the fire service were 15 minutes later, I think we would have lost everything," he said.

"I went outside to look around and by the time I got back in, the alarms were going off."

The man and another resident began to alert others to the danger.

"We started banging doors and got everybody up apart from one woman, who emergency services had to rescue."

He and others watched the flames from the salon roof as the fire inched closer to their properties.

"My window overlooks the salon. I was looking at the fire growing higher and higher, just thinking: 'I could lose everything here'."

The resident said he counted himself "very lucky" that he only has to deal with smoke damage and not the "devastation" being faced by the hair salon.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) said it received a report of the incident at 03:24 BST, after which they dispatched support from Omagh, Dromore, Clogher and Londonderry.

NIFRS confirmed they had extinguished the fire by 06:29.

Officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) also attended to assist with the evacuation.

They have said the fire is not being treated as suspicious at this time.