Man saves child from bedroom fire after hearing smoke alarm

A man has risked his life to save a young child from a fire in a flat in Hull.

The fire started in a spare bedroom of a bottom floor flat at The Lawns in Sutton near Hull at around 4am on Saturday.​

He tried to get the mother of the child to escape down the stairs but she was too frightened and would not leave. The man grabbed the child and ran from the property.

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service’s head of safety, Daryl Oprey, said: “It was a magnificent act of bravery to not think about himself but to run up the stairs and try to get the mother and child. He didn’t for one moment consider his own safety, but that of others. It was very selfless. His actions are not something we advocate, but you have to praise those who do carry out such heroic acts.”

22 firefighters attended the blaze, which destroyed two homes in the complex. Five people needed to be evacuated from the flat.

Mr Oprey also praised fire crews for safely rescuing the child’s mother from the top floor window.

Mr Oprey said: “There were flames coming out both sides of the building. The mother wouldn’t come down with the neighbour but ran to the room furthest away from the fire. We arrived and immediately put up a ladder and smashed the window to get her out as the flames were already climbing the stairwell. We also led two people out from the other flats. The main fire was put out quite quickly, but we had to spend a few hours dampening down. It was a stressful situation for the fire crews as there were people in danger. It was emotionally charged, but the firefighters are well trained to deal with this. We are very relieved there were no serious injuries or worse. A fire like this would not be survivable if the smoke detectors hadn’t gone off. Without this, the actions of the neighbour and the quick response but the crews, it could have been a different story.”

Both mother and child were taken to a local hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

An investigation will be carried out into the cause of the fire.