Read the following original non-fiction extract.

The night everyone knocked — Asha Patel

At 2.17 in the morning, Lena Ortiz woke to the smell of burning plastic. There was no alarm, only a thin scratching sound from the corridor and a strip of smoke sliding beneath her front door.

She touched the handle. It was hot.

That small detail made the danger real. Lena stepped back, called the emergency services and began hammering on the wall she shared with her neighbour. Within seconds, the quiet building filled with fists striking doors, feet stumbling on stairs and voices calling names through the darkness.

On the fifth floor, smoke pressed against the windows like dark cloth. A father leaned from one of them, holding a towel over the face of his young son. Below, residents gathered in the car park wearing dressing gowns, work shirts and, in one case, a single shoe. They looked upwards, counting lit windows and trying to remember who was still inside.

The first fire engine arrived at 2.24. Another followed, then another. Soon six engines blocked the road, their blue lights flashing across the brick walls. Two aerial platforms rose towards the upper floors while firefighters carried hoses through the entrance. Ambulance crews unfolded stretchers beside the pavement. Police officers closed both ends of the street, and council workers opened a nearby community hall.

For Lena, however, the operation narrowed to one window. Her elderly neighbour, Mr Khan, had not appeared outside. She repeated his flat number to three different firefighters until one of them nodded and disappeared into the building.

Minutes stretched. Water ran down the steps. Broken glass fell into the courtyard. The crowd became silent whenever a firefighter appeared at the entrance, then noisy again as relatives asked for news.

At 2.51, two firefighters emerged with Mr Khan between them. His face was grey with smoke, but he was walking. The waiting residents cheered once, loudly, before making space for the paramedics.

By dawn, forty-three people had been moved from the building. Twelve were examined by ambulance crews and four were taken to hospital. More than sixty emergency workers, council staff and volunteers had helped during the night. Inside the community hall, rows of blankets covered the floor, and local residents arrived carrying flasks, spare clothes and bags of bread.

The fire had begun in a storage cupboard and had been contained before it reached every flat. From the pavement, the building still looked almost ordinary. Only the blackened windows on the fifth floor showed how close the night had come to ending differently.