Lucky to be alive

6:35pm Tuesday 13th May 2008

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THREE young children and their parents cheated death by minutes when a washer-dryer caught fire while they were sleeping.

Petrit Hoxha, his wife Vicky and their children were rescued from their burning home after being woken up by the sound of firefighters hammering down the back door of their house on Osprey Close in Orford.

A neighbour alerted fire crews after smelling burning at around 1am on Friday but had been unable to rouse the family.

Firefighter Wes Mather and crew manager Jason Fletcher from Green Watch at Warrington Fire Station tackled the flames to reach the family, whose exit route had been cut off by the blaze.

Mr Hoxha, a part-time labourer who had celebrated his 30th birthday the previous day, was led to safety after firefighters heard him coughing on the stairs, struggling to breathe through the thick smoke.

Firefighters also found Vicky, who is seven months pregnant, standing at the top of the stairs holding 13-month-old Osman with six-year-old Megi, who were rescued by FF Mather.

Crew manager Fletcher went to search for two-year-old Klementina who he could hear crying from her bedroom.

He said: "We couldn't see anything through the thick, acrid smoke which was horrendous.

"I could hear the little girl coughing and crying but couldn't see her at first because of the lack of visibility but found her and carried her outside.

"They didn't have any smoke alarms and the family was really very lucky - they couldn't have got much closer to death.

"Because they didn't have smoke alarms, had their neighbour not smelt the smoke I doubt they would have survived - a couple more minutes and it could have been a different story."

The family were treated at the scene by paramedics for smoke inhalation.

Vicky, a 27-year-old housewife, said: "I had put the washer-dryer on at about 8pm and it takes a while to dry the clothes. I can't believe it caught fire.

"It was really frightening. We woke up from hearing banging and came out of the bedroom and there was thick, black smoke everywhere - the children were terrified and crying.

"We are having to go to my mum's because of the smoke damage and we've been told not to touch anything.

"I don't know yet how much we have lost but nearly everything is black."

Watch manager Tony O'Dwyer added: "This incident highlights the importance of turning off electrical appliances before leaving your property or going to bed.

"It also shows how vital it is to keep doors closed to stop smoke travel and that working smoke detectors can mean the difference between life and death."