Neighbours save blaze duo

Chris McGuiness, aged 27, woke to hear screaming from his neighbour's house in Frank Street, Halliwell, and ran out to see smoke billowing from the roof.

June Harlow, aged 55, and her grand-daughter Jessica, aged three, were trapped in an upstairs bedroom at the front of the house after a chip pan started the blaze.

Electrician Mr McGuiness tried to kick the door down, then broke a window to get into the house. He felt his way through thick black smoke to reach the trapped pair. Meanwhile, his neighbour Tony Torkington, a painter and decorator, climbed up to the bedroom window using his work ladder and smashed the glass.

Mr McGuiness passed little Jessica to Mr Torkington who carried her down the ladder before also helping Mrs Harlow to safety.

Another neighbour, John Wood, put out the chip pan fire using a wet cloth and dragged outside Mrs Harlow's 27-year-old son Damien, who had been asleep on a couch.

Today as the family recovered from the ordeal, fire chiefs commended the bravery of the two neighbours.

Mr McGuiness said: "I heard screaming so I jumped out of bed and saw smoke billowing out of the house. I looked up and saw the little girl at the window.

"Once I got inside, I couldn't see where I was going. I wasn't thinking about what I was going to do, I just knew I had to get them out.

"When I saw Tony with the ladder it was a relief, but I was petrified as I'm scared of heights. I wasn't scared of the fire, but I was terrified of climbing down that ladder!"

Mr Torkington said: "I didn't know Chris had gone inside, I just dashed over. My wife had just been saying that day that I should put my ladders away properly, but if I'd chained them up it would have taken a lot longer."

Mrs Harlow and Jessica were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation and shock and their rottweiler and terrier needed oxygen treatment at the scene.

The house was fitted with smoke alarms, but they did not contain batteries.

Sub officer Mike Sutherland said: "What these neighbours did was very brave."

He added: "If the smoke alarms had batteries fitted, that would have alerted the family and given them vital minutes to get out themselves.

"We also advise people against using chip pans or cooking late at night."

AN ELECTRICIAN and a painter and decorator told today how they saved a woman and her three-year-old grand-daughter from a burning house.

Chris McGuiness, aged 27, woke to hear screaming from his neighbour's house in Frank Street, Halliwell, and ran out to see smoke billowing from the roof.

June Harlow, aged 55, and her grand-daughter Jessica, aged three, were trapped in an upstairs bedroom at the front of the house after a chip pan started the blaze.

Electrician Mr McGuiness tried to kick the door down, then broke a window to get into the house. He felt his way through thick black smoke to reach the trapped pair. Meanwhile, his neighbour Tony Torkington, a painter and decorator, climbed up to the bedroom window using his work ladder and smashed the glass.

Mr McGuinesspassed little Jessica to Mr Torkington who carried her down the ladder before also helping Mrs Harlow to safety.

Another neighbour, John Wood, put out the chip pan fire using a wet cloth and dragged outside Mrs Harlow's 27-year-old son Damien, who had been asleep on a couch.

Today as the family recovered from the ordeal, fire chiefs commended the bravery of the two neighbours.

Mr McGuiness said: "I heard screaming so I jumped out of bed and saw smoke billowing out of the house. I looked up and saw the little girl at the window.

"Once I got inside, I couldn't see where I was going. I wasn't thinking about what I was going to do, I just knew I had to get them out.

"When I saw Tony with the ladder it was a relief, but I was petrified as I'm scared of heights. I wasn't scared of the fire, but I was terrified of climbing down that ladder!"

Mr Torkington said: "I didn't know Chris had gone inside, I just dashed over. My wife had just been saying that day that I should put my ladders away properly, but if I'd chained them up it would have taken a lot longer."

Mrs Harlow and Jessica were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation and shock and their rottweiler and terrier needed oxygen treatment at the scene. The house was fitted with smoke alarms, but they did not contain batteries.

Sub officer Mike Sutherland said: "What these neighbours did was very brave."

He added: "If the smoke alarms had batteries fitted, that would have alerted the family and given them vital minutes to get out themselves. We also advise people against using chip pan fires or cooking late at night."