Mother and Baby Rescued From Burning House

Date - 6th November 2008
Time - 10:40 am
Where - Grange Park, Swindon.

A young mother and her baby son were rescued by Firefighters this morning from a fire in the downstairs area of their terraced home in Grange Park, Swindon.

The woman discovered the fire at approx’ 10:40am this morning when she heard her domestic smoke alarm actuating downstairs and immediately phoned the Fire Service.

On receipt of the call the control room operator dispatched three Fire Engines, one Aerial Rescue Appliance an Incident Control Vehicle and a total of 20 Officers and Firefighters to the scene, whilst keeping the caller on the line.

As the Fire Control Operator continued to talk to the woman it quickly became apparent that she and her baby were trapped upstairs by the heat and smoke. The operator was able to advise the woman to go to the place of greatest safety on that floor level, to position blankets and towels across the base of the door to prevent smoke from entering the room and to position herself next to an open window to await the arrival of the Fire Service. The operator was then able to send detailed information on the whereabouts of the woman and baby to the attending appliances.

On arrival of the first fire engine from Westlea Station, the Officer in charge was able to deploy immediately to the rear of the building due to the prior information received from Fire Control.

Access was gained to the first floor window via a short extension ladder pitched over a glass conservatory and the rescue of the baby was carried out. Due to the dangerous nature of the rescue and the extra risk involved in getting a fully grown adult over the glass conservatory it was decided by the incident commander that a Firefighter would be deployed into the building to stay with the woman until firefighting and ventilation made it safe for her to be rescued from inside.

Two Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus were then deployed into the building where they quickly discovered and extinguished the fire. The property was then ventilated of smoke using mechanical fans and the rescue of the woman was affected.

Both mother and baby were taken to hospital as a precautionary measure.

The cause of the fire is still been investigated by Fire Service and Police investigators.

This incident highlights the importance of having a fully operational smoke alarm in your house. This incident proves that a smoke alarm can save lives at anytime of day. The extra minutes warning that the alarm gave here, may well have saved the lives of both mother and baby.

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