Tragedy avoided at serious house fire

02/05/2009

A tragedy was avoided at a house fire on Saturday 2nd May as Fire-fighters responded to a call at The Twinings, Greenmeadow, Cwmbran at 02:21.

On arrival, fire crews saw several neighbors outside the house a male in his 60's attempting to rescue children from the first floor window rear of the property using his own ladder. A Firefighter ascended the ladder and received three children from the member of the public. A fourth child was passed out through the first floor bedroom window to a second Firefighter.

Two Firefighters in breathing apparatus entered the house through the front door. They encountered severe heat and thick, acrid smoke. The Firefighters located a fifth child in the ground floor living room and helped her to escape through the ground floor window.

Firefighters continued to search the house to make sure all people had been accounted for. The fire was extinguished and the smoke was cleared using positive pressure ventilation fans.

Once the house had been deemed safe to enter, a fire investigation was carried out by South Wales Fire and Rescue Service. The cause was established as accidental and involved electrical fittings on the ground floor.

Group Manager Richie Prendergast said, "The work of Fire Crews, neighbours and Fire Control operators undoubtedly helped save the lives of five children and should not go without recognition. The neighbours were able to identify where the trapped children were and helped assist with four rescues on their own ladder."

"Fortunately, all the young people escaped from the building safely and had followed fire survival guidance from fire control who had asked them to keep the door of the bedroom closed, and as a result the room didn't fill with smoke."

"There was severe smoke and fire damage throughout the house due to the intensity of the fire. However, the closed bedroom door made a huge difference to the children upstairs as the air remained fairly clear."

"The fire had been detected in its early stages due to Torfaen County Borough Council having installed hard wired smoke alarms, which alerted the children to the fire."