Mum says thanks for rescue from Coventry blaze

[dutchman]

A mum has thanked her family and friends after they escaped a house fire that gutted their neighbour’s property.



Rebecca Gee, 26, was upstairs asleep with children Ethan Chambers, five, and Thea Chambers, seven, when they were woken by fire alarms.

A friend helped Rebecca grab Ethan before they entered Thea’s smoke-filled room and carried her to safety.

When they got outside they realised it was their neighbour’s empty property that had caught fire.

The incident, in Cross Road, Edgwick, Coventry, took place just after midnight on Saturday – a few days after contractors told Rebecca they suspected that squatters were living next door.

Piles of charred rubbish have been left outside the front and back of the fire-damaged end terrace.

Mercian Housing Association, who let Rebecca’s house to her, are so concerned about the property that they have agreed to move her and her children.

“I thought our house was on fire,” she said. “I had my friend round on the night and I’m so grateful for that.

“When we got outside we realised what was going on. The force of the fire was incredible.”

Rebecca says that fire teams investigating the cause of the blaze believe it may have started deliberately in a rear bedroom – close to where Thea was sleeping.

The family only moved to the property in January.

Rebecca said: “I never really noticed anyone living next door. But a contractor said that when they went in they found a mattress and some empty cider bottles.

“We’re just incredibly lucky. The smoke alarms did their job and we were able to get out with the help of others.

“I just don’t feel safe here now. My daughter keeps telling me she doesn’t want to come back.

“We came here for a better life. We’ve got a nice garden here for the children to play in.

“And we were quite happy here but in the last few weeks it’s just got worse and now this has happened.

“Now we just want to find somewhere else to live.”