Mum saves children from blaze

8:03am Wednesday 7th May 2008

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A mum passed five children out of a window to neighbours as fire tore through their home today.

Firefighters from Bradford and Idle were called to the house in Tyne Street, Barkerend, just after 2am after six people were reported trapped inside.

When they arrived the mother had managed to pass five children out through a ground-floor window before clambering out herself, but a teenager was still stuck upstairs in a bedroom.

A ladder was used to reach him and bring him down from a window to safety.

Only the mother needed treatment at hospital for slight smoke inhalation.

The blaze started in the kitchen after a pan was left unattended.

Bradford watch manager Kenny Atkins said: "There are lessons to be learned from this but the mother did a good job. She was given survival advice over the phone from our operator and managed to keep calm. She got all the kids together and made sure they were safe first.

"When we arrived there was chaos on the street, everybody had turned out to see what was happening.

"The family did have smoke detectors in the house but they weren't working. I don't know what alerted the woman but if she hadn't woken up within another 15 minutes or so the outcome would have been very different - we could have had a tragedy."

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