Children hailed heroes for saving a man's life (From Runcorn and Widnes World)

Murdishaw duo alert firefighters to chip pan blaze

1:20pm Friday 20th January 2012 in News By Barbara Jordan

TWO quick-thinking children have been hailed heroes after saving a man’s life in a chip pan blaze.

Thomas Littler, aged 11, and Alicia Dunnette, aged 10, spotted a fire in a flat as they walked along Exmouth Crescent in Murdishaw.

They saw an orange and red glow and ran to a friend’s house to raise the alarm at 5.25pm last Monday.

Firefighters rescued a man suffering from smoke inhalation and he was taken to hospital.

Thomas, of Tilbury Place, said: “We realised an upstairs flat was on fire because we could see flames through the window.

“We ran to my mum’s friend’s house and she phoned 999 while we shouted out what was happening from the window.”

Alicia, who lives near Runcorn East railway station, said: “We remembered what to do from what our mums and dads told us and from when the firefighters came to our school.

“It was a bit strange seeing the fire engines arrive, knowing it was because we called them.

“We told our teachers at St Martin’s what happened and they are very proud of us both.”

Thomas’s mum, Ingrid, aged 37, was so impressed by her son and his friend she contacted firefighters to see if they could arrange a visit.

Station manager Sean Henshaw said: “Inviting these two exceptional young people to the fire station was the least we could do.

“Their prompt actions almost certainly saved a life by enabling us to get to the fire quickly.

“Thomas and Alicia are a shining example to their parents, their school and their neighbourhood.

“I congratulate them wholeheartedly on their enterprise.

“This was a very serious incident involving a chip pan.”

This was the 10th cooker fire in Runcorn in the past eight months.

Firefighters warn residents frying chips never to leave a pan unattended.

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