Wirral couple rescued from house fire tell of importance of not cutting our fire service

Sep 6 2012 by John Siddle, Liverpool Echo

A MERSEYSIDE couple feared they were moments from death when flames tore through their home.

Dave Pollard, 70, and his wife Betty, 64, were woken up in the early hours of the morning in March last year by their son Christopher who was screaming for them to get out of their home in Rock Ferry, Wirral.

There was an electrical fire in Christopher’s bedroom and he suffered burns to his face, back and arms escaping the blaze which had spread to the upstairs hallway.

Christopher, now 33, managed to get out but his parents were still asleep in the front bedroom. His sister Debbie, now 45, was trapped in her back bedroom.

He managed to call Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service before escaping the house and was screaming up at his parents’ bedroom for them to wake up as there were no smoke alarms in their home.

Dave said: “I heard him screaming. I opened the bedroom door and there was just a wall of flames.

“Bulbs were popping and windows were smashing in Christopher’s room with the heat. Smoke was coming though to our bedroom and I just ran to the window. There was thick black smoke. My only thought was to get fresh air. I opened the window and started shouting for help.”

Betty said: “I couldn’t breathe. I thought it was the end. I just thought we were going to die.”

Another neighbour managed to rescue Debbie from the back bedroom using a ladder.

Dave said: “Debbie had been shouting out the back bedroom for help. Hers was the only room not affected as she had kept her door shut.”

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