London, England / UK - A mother and her 5-year-old handicapped daughter were awaken by black smoke that had filled their home just after midnight on Saturday. Arsonists are believed to have started the fire by setting fire to paper and pushing it through her letter box.
The mother said, "I had no time to be scared. My first thoughts were to get my daughter out. I grabbed her and we ran through to the back where we have a fire exit. I've never had such a fright in my life. I had just finished feeding my daughter. We went to bed and about half-an-hour later the smoke alarm started going off." Quick-thinking neighbors, who feared the pair were in the house asleep, kicked down her front door and put out the flames with a fire extinguisher. Firefighters praised their actions, which prevented the blaze from spreading to a gas pipe and electricity box. Both mother and daughter were unhurt. The mother stated a day later, "I just want to know why someone would do this? If I didn't have a smoke alarm fitted I could have lost my daughter." |
