Two people in critical condition after child starts fire with cigarette lighter
Two people are in a critical condition in hospital after a house fire in Bentilee. One child also required hospital treatment and three others escaped unhurt.
The incident happened on the morning of Monday 20th December and is thought to have been started by a three year old child playing with a cigarette lighter.
Firefighters took over an hour to put out the fire which started in one of the bedrooms. Luckily the smoke alarms were triggered which enabled the children in the other bedroom to evacuate the building quickly.
Mick Daniels, Newcastle station manager said “This incident highlights the importance of smoke alarms – without them the other children would not have been aware of the fire until it had developed further and could have then ended up trapped.”
The local community are helping the family, who lost most of their possessions in the fire, by collecting clothes, food and even Christmas presents.