A BABY girl was taken to hospital after her buggy, which was left in a stairwell, was targeted by arsonists.

The 16-month-old, who was sleeping upstairs, was treated in A&E, while an eight-year-old girl suffered smoke inhalation following the early-morning fire at a block of six flats in Worcester Drive, Rayleigh.

Ground-floor residents managed to flee their homes in their pyjamas while those on the upper two floors went to their balconies to escape the thick, black smoke.

It was the seventh time in just two-and-a-half weeks arsonists have struck at the estate, which contains four small blocks of flats.

Mum Bekki Brown, 21, who had to rush her 16-month-old Kyla to hospital, said: “My partner Marc and I just couldn’t believe somebody could do this.

“When they set light to Kyla’s buggy, by the door on the ground floor, they must have known there were young children living here. We could hear the smoke alarms going and because we couldn’t use the stairwell we had to stand on our balcony to escape the smoke.”

The fire started just after 4am on Friday.

Another resident, Kate Harvey, said: “I heard everybody’s smoke alarms. At first I thought the bins were on fire again, and I stupidly opened the front door and smoke poured in.

“I screamed at my partner and my three children to get out of bed and called 999, and the firefighters told us to get on the balcony.”

Vernon Kendall, assistant divisional officer, said the arsonists were able to get inside because the communal front door doesn’t lock.

He added: “An accelerant was then used to set light to a pushchair, stored under the stairs on the ground floor.

“The fire completely filled the communal area with smoke and two children were treated for inhalation.”

Mr Kendall said although the fire was relatively small, it created a lot of smoke in the enclosed space.

He added: “Incidents like this show, with fires, more often than not the real risk is smoke. Just three breaths can be enough to make someone unconscious, leaving them drowning in toxic smoke.”

Fortunately, firefighters quickly put out the blaze before using two fans to clear smoke from the building.

However, Mr Kendall highlighted a problem with parking in the area and warned residents it could have had dire consequences.

He said: “Luckily in this case it had no adverse effects, but with fires, seconds can kill, and when an area is as heavily parked as this it can cause real problems for our fire engines.”