Dad's advice saves mum and son in fire

From the archive, first published Saturday 30th Dec 2006.

A quick-thinking young mum remembered life-saving advice from her firefighter dad when a blaze engulfed the house where she was sleeping with her four-year-old son.

Joan Hudson, 24, and her son became trapped upstairs when a discarded cigarette started a blaze in her back-to back home at 2am yesterday.

Miss Hudson, of Robert Street, Cross Roads, near Haworth, said their lives had been saved because she had done exactly what her dad Terry Hudson, 56, a former firefighter, had always told her to do if she was ever caught in a fire.

When she was awoken by a smoke detector, all she could see and breath was smoke. But she survived being suffocated by staying calm, snatching bedding and stuffing it under the door of her bedroom to prevent more choking smoke entering the room.

She said: "My first thought was for Samuel who was luckily sleeping with me that night. I checked him to make sure he was okay and then grabbed my mobile which I always take up to bed with me and dialled 999, flinging open the bedroom window."

Fire Service control operators kept her talking and within minutes the first pump from Keighley arrived on the scene followed by back-up crews from Haworth and Bingley.

She said: "They were there in about five minutes. The control operator kept reassuring me and did a marvellous job but I was okay because Samuel was okay. I kept calm because I remembered everything my dad had told me too. He'll be proud of what I did but I'm expecting a few cross words about the cigarette that caused it all in the first place."

Now Miss Hudson has vowed never to smoke again in her or anyone else's home.

"It's a risk no one should take. I thought I was always so careful but obviously I wasn't as careful as I should have been. We could have died because of that one cigarette," she said.

Firefighters rescued Samuel first from the bedroom window and carried him to safety before helping Miss Hudson down a ladder. The pair were checked over by paramedics in a waiting ambulance but neither needed hospital treatment.

"We were so lucky to escape. I did everything by my dad's rule book - except for the cigarette," she said.

"When help got to us they asked if there was anyone else in the house and we said yes - the rabbit. Rooney was in a hutch in the front room and we thought he'd have been a gonna because of all the smoke but they got him out too."

Keighley watch manager Philp Brown said: "The rabbit wasn't moving at first but once we got him outside and gave him a whiff of fresh air and a squeeze he came back to life."

Mr Brown added: "Joan did remarkably well at staying calm under the circumstances. She did everything right from having working smoke detectors, to a flame retardant chair and having her mobile upstairs with her to call us on which all saved precious time."

Miss Hudson, Samuel and pet Rooney were hoping to move back into their home today once the smell of smoke had cleared.

e-mail: kathie.griffiths

@bradford.newsquest.co.uk