A Middleton family who were saved by firefighters after becoming trapped in their home as it went up in flames were reunited with their rescuers this week and given a tour of the fire station.
Loud bangs and smoke alarms alerted mum-of-two Katie Bartle to the burning car on her driveway which blocked the exit of everybody in the house last month.
Miss Bartle hurried her daughters, aged two and four, into the back room of the house and called the emergency services, following the advice given to her during a Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service Home Safety Check.
Miss Bartle said: “We were terrified but I remember what firefighters told me when I had a Home Safety Check a couple of years ago.
“They told me everything we needed to know to stay safe and things you should do if you have a fire.”
This incident involved just one of the cars that was set alight that night, starting a police investigation, but Miss Bartle said the Fire Investigation Team were ‘really helpful’ when she was reporting the matter.
When Miss Bartle phoned 999 she was given advice and reassurance by a control operator who she later thanked personally.
By the time the fire crew arrived the fire had spread to the front door, windows and parts of the roof.
Watch Manager Colin Moran, one of the firefighters called to the scene, said: “Understandably the young children were frightened after all of the loud noises, smoky smells and being woken up in the middle of the night – but this fire could have been much worse if it had actually got inside the house.”
Miss Bartle was keen to express her gratitude to the GMFRS and was thrilled to be invited to the station with her family where they got to watch firefighters take part in ladder training, have a tour of the station and sit in one of the fire engines.
Chair of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority, David Acton, said: “This incident just goes to show the importance of having working smoke alarms and we can’t reiterate enough that they really do save lives.”
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