Mother And Child Rescued In Christchurch

A mother and child have been rescued from a fire at their home in Christchurch, Dorset.

At approximately 4.10pm on the 12th December crews from Dorset Fire and Rescue Service attended a property fire in Barrack Road.

Two crews from Christchurch and a crew from Springbourne attended this incident within five minutes and quickly established there was a fire in the kitchen of a flat. Crews used two sets of breathing apparatus and one hose reel jet to extinguish this fire.

Luckily no one was injured during this incident, however firefighters led a mother, a young child and two dogs to safety. They were treated by Ambulance personnel and taken to hospital for check ups.

Station Manager Dave Arundel, who attended this incident said: 

"The lady and her young child have a had a very lucky escape and this serves asanother timely warning that working smoke alarms do save lives. Following the incident, firefighters fitted two smoke alarms within the property and conducted a home fire safety check.

"We believe this fire was caused by unattended cooking, crews removed the cooking and ventilated the property which was damaged by smoke.

Unfortunately it is very easy to leave cooking unattended and this is perfect example of what can happen. Cooking can be extremely dangerous and we advise all residents to ensure that all cooking is carefully planned and managed. If you go out, you are distracted and before you go to sleep,please ensure you turn off the cooker or microwave."