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Fire at One Directioner Liam Payne’s Apartment Injures His Childhood Pal

Liam Payne
A fire broke out at One Directioner Liam Payne's apartment

Fun with friends turned into serious drama for Liam Payne.

The One Direction heartthrob was hosting pals in his London home when a fire broke out on the balcony of the 34th floor apartment on Monday night, omg! can confirm. Two men and a woman were injured in the blaze and treated for burns.

The fire – which was reported at 9:48 p.m. – stemmed from a young male guest's attempt to refuel an outdoor gas patio heater while Payne, 20, was inside in the kitchen. The singer raced out to help extinguish the flames and accompanied the pal to the hospital.

A rep for the star had no comment about the incident or the medical status of Payne's friend. However, the victim has since been identified as his childhood friend Andy Samuels, who owns a T-shirt company called My Box Clothing. His girlfriend, Daisie Smith, shared an update on his condition on Twitter.

"Thank you so much for all of your lovely messages & prayers," tweeted Smith, who is a magazine editor in the U.K. "On behalf of Andy's family & I we'd like you to know he is in a stable condition."

Samuels's stepfather, Matthew Baker, filled in some of the details of the incident — and praised Payne's quick thinking.

"We are so grateful to Liam because he saved his life," Baker told The Mirror. "The lantern just exploded as Andy was lighting it and it took the full force of the flames. Liam helped him by beating out the flames and dousing him with water. He acted quickly and swiftly.

"What happened was absolutely awful. My son is very poorly," he continued. "I've spoken to Liam on the phone and he told me exactly what happened. He is very shocked himself. It’s bad enough, but it could have been a lot worse."

The fire was a big one, according to a statement issued by the London Fire Brigade. Six fire engines responded to the scene and it took 35 firefighters 45 minutes to put out the blaze.

"Firefighters worked quickly and professionally to get the fire under control as quickly as possible," said spokesperson Laurie Kenny, who was on the scene. "Around 30 people left the building before we arrived and were not injured. Two of the occupants had superficial burns to their hands and the third had burns to his hands and face. All three have been taken to hospital."

The statement also noted there was "severe damage" to the balcony. According to reports, 80 percent of it was charred.

The investigation into the first is ongoing, but Payne has been radio silent, not tweeting or otherwise commenting. However, he's probably very consumed with the health status of his pal, whom he has known since they were children and is part of his small inner circle.

Bizarrely, in the new One Direction documentary, "This Is Us," Payne said that if he wasn't a singer he'd "be working in a factory or being a firefighter." He went on to talk about how he'd enjoy saving people.

Well, mission accomplished … and he didn't even have to switch careers.

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