A man has suffered severe burns after a unit fire on Darby Street at Cooks Hill this morning.
Emergency services were called to the unit on Darby Street between Bull and Parry Streets at about 6:45am.
Residents were able to evacuate the building – they did have to assist one resident, a 41-year-old man, who had suffered burns in the fire.
He was treated by an off-duty nurse until NSW Ambulance Paramedics arrived. He was airlifted to the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney for treatment to severe burns.
Newcastle City Police District officers established an exclusion zone while NSW Fire and Rescue crews worked to extinguish the blaze.
Darby Street has since reopened to traffic.
Police have established a crime scene and have commenced an investigation into the circumstances and cause of the fire.