Family rescued from fire

Two police officers and a member of the public saved the day after the family were trapped in their house in Cluny Way, Arlesey.

The mother rang the emergency services at around 12.30am on Sunday (November 10) to say that she and her family were trapped in an upstairs bedroom due to a fire downstairs.

The three children were lowered to safety from an upstairs window to a member of the public who bravely came to their aid.

When the police arrived the woman was still trapped. The fire brigade was on its way but the fire engines were still a few minutes away.

The police officers forced entry to the house and extinguished the fire in the kitchen, enabling the woman to escape unharmed.

Both officers suffered the effects of smoke inhalation but did not require treatment.

The East of England Ambulance Service dispatched three ambulances, a Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) car and a duty officer.

The mother and children were treated for smoke inhalation by paramedics and HART operatives before being taken to Lister Hospital for further care.

Inspector Jim Goldsmith from Bedfordshire Police said: “This was a selfless act by the officers and the member of the public who also came to this family’s rescue.
“The fire service was just minutes away but the officers thought nothing of breaking in and putting out the blaze with no thought to their own safety. It doesn’t bear thinking about what might have happened had they not acted so bravely.”

A spokesman for Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “We sent a crew from Shefford and a crew from Baldock in Hertfordshire. When we had a subsequent call to indicate that there were people in the building we sent a further crew from Biggleswade.

“When the crew arrived a police officer had used a dry powder extinguisher to put out a fire in the kitchen and the woman and three young children had been rescued.

“It looks like the fire was an accident caused by a chip pan on an electric hob.”

The kitchen suffered 30 per cent fire damage and 70 per cent smoke damage. The rest of the house received 30 per cent smoke damage.

The fire was officially declared under control at 1.15am.