Young mum and three-year-old toddler escape flat blaze

Sep 2 2010 by Hywel Trewyn, North Wales Weekly News

Family escapes blaze

A YOUNG mum and her three-year-old daughter were lucky to escape with their lives after a fire started in the lounge of their first floor flat.

It is believed curtains or other material caught fire in a heater in the lounge and the blaze quickly spread.

They managed to dodge flames which almost blocked their only way out – a stairway leading to the front door of the flat in Market Street, Abergele – and ran for their lives.

They were both lucky to survive unhurt before two fire crews arrived.

The mum suffered smoke inhalation and was said to be traumatised.

The fire service said the fire started at about 9am last Thursday. Luckily a smoke alarm was fitted in the hall leading to the flat.

A fire service spokeswoman said: “The smoke alarm saved the life of the young mum and her three-year-old toddler.

“The fire was situated between her and the front door. If it had been any later the only other escape route would have been through a window.”

A local man said: “Barclays bank girls going to work knocked on the door and the mum managed to get out.

“The flat’s gutted. She suffered a bit of smoke inhalation. She was lucky to get out thanks to the smoke alarm. She was left a bit shocked.”

Yesterday a strong smell of smoke could be smelt outside the flat. The front windows were covered in black soot and the back windows had been smashed.

North Wales Fire Service’s Gwyn Roberts said: “I can’t stress enough how important it is to have working smoke alarms in the home.

“I also urge people not to leave heaters near any flammable materials, as fire can spread in minutes.”