Firefighters have praised a man who came to the rescue of a mother and daughter trapped in a house fire in Heywood over night.
The unknown rescuer heard a smoke alarm at around 3.50am this morning and went to investigate.
He found a house in Tower Street with smoke coming out of the upstairs window.
Unable to alert anyone living there, he forced his way in and found a woman, aged around 50, trying to extinguish a chip pan fire in the kitchen.
He helped the woman to safety and then tried to assist her daughter who had been woken by the commotion and was attempting to get out via the front bedroom window.
With the 29-year-old dangling from the upstairs window ledge, the man tried to create a bin ladder for her to climb down by stacking wheelie bins.
Watch Manager Colin Moran said: “This guy did a very good job to lead the woman to safety and try and rescue her daughter. He had gone to investigate a smoke alarm he could hear. He kicked the door in and kept his head below the smoke as he tried to make contact with people inside.
“If anyone hasn’t had a Home Safety Check from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, I’d encourage them to contact us, as we fitted the smoke alarms in this property and that is what alerted people to the fire.”
When firefighters from Heywood and Rochdale arrived at the scene, they quickly extinguished the fire using two hose reels and a positive pressure ventilation fan. The fire damage was limited to the kitchen but the house was damaged by smoke.
WM Moran added: “Despite all our campaigning around the dangers, we still get chip pan fires. We go into schools and talk to children and ask them if they have chip pans and we still get hands going up.
“Chip pans are killers – it’s the smoke that kills. In this case the fire damage was limited but smoke was extensive and went straight upstairs where people were sleeping. If you’ve got a chip pan, please bin it.”
For advice about smoke alarms or fire safety visit www.manchesterfire.gov.uk or call 0800 555 815.
