Family And Firefighter In Hospital After Gosport Fire

22 October 2014, 11:12

A family, and a firefighter, have been taken to hospital after a house fire in Gosport.

The mum and her two children were rescued early this morning (22 October) in The Crossways. All four people have been treated for breathing in smoke.

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service and Hampshire Police have started a joint investigation into how it started.

After the mother dialled 999, fire service control operators gave her fire survival advice over the phone to help keep them safe until crews arrived. The advice given was to get herself and the children into one room, close the door, open the windows, and hang something out of the window so that crews could locate them quickly.

On arrival, firefighters from Gosport and Fareham pitched ladders to rescue the two children whilst a breathing apparatus team rushed into the building to rescue the female who was then carried out.  

Assistant Chief Officer Andy Bowers said:

"There is no doubt that the combination of working smoke alarms, the fire survival advice from our Control operators and the swift action of the firefighters on scene saved the lives of these three individuals.

"This incident just shows the importance of working smoke alarms. They give you the vital time to get to a safe place, should you not be able to exit your home, and alert the fire service."

Both the female and the children were taken to hospital suffering smoke inhalation. They are all said to be making a good recovery.