Shropshire Star

Shrewsbury 999 mother: Thanks for saving our lives in blaze

It's every mother's nightmare. Fire has broken out in her home and her two children are choking on the smoke as they are trapped in a bedroom.

Published

But for Estelle Guest, 25, help was at hand as she made the call after her chip pan caught fire, trapping her in the house with her two young children.

The frantic, seven-minute conversation helped save their life as they waited for crews in a bedroom quickly filling with smoke.

On the recording of the 999 call, Miss Guest and her children can be heard choking as they clamber closer to the open window to get fresh air.

Miss Guest met fire control operator Sandra Davies at Shrewsbury Fire Station yesterday to say thank you to her and the fire fighters who attended the call.

She also met the firemen who carried the family to safety, firefighters Lee Roberts, Neil Wilson, Martin Jones and Rob Simcox.

Miss Guest's house in Bembridge, in Brookside, Telford, was engulfed with smoke when her chip pan caught fire just after midnight of September 4 this year.

Thinking back to a safety talk from the fire service when she was 11, and information she had been given by fire fighters this year, she found a safe haven in her bedroom and called 999.

Mrs Davies was the calming voice at the other end of the phone as Miss Guest waited in her bedroom with her two children, aged two and three, for the fire service to arrive.

Miss Guest said: "It's overwhelming to meet Sandra. I was a little bit apprehensive about meeting her because I thought that I had shouted at her. I'm lucky to be able to come here and meet Sandra because so often fires like this end up in tragedy."

Mrs Davies said: "I just kept her calm and explained to her the fire engines were on the way. I told her to put something at the bottom of the door because that would stop the smoke from getting in.

"I also told her to open the window to allow some air in, keep the children safe and explained that I was mobilising the crews.

"I've been in the force for eight years but this was only my second call like this. It's something we are trained for though."

The fire started in the kitchen when Miss Guest left the heat on her chip pan, which started to smoke. She put the chip pan on the side but it continued to smoke and she went outside to get some fresh air.

When she got back in she saw the smoke going upstairs and ran up to get her children, who were in their beds. She took them into her bedroom, shut the door and phoned the fire service.

"I had an escape route planned which really helped me," she said. "In that position a lot of people wouldn't have the confidence to do what I did but having the advice from the fire service really helped.

"A couple of months before a house in the street behind us had a fire and we had someone from the fire service knock on the door and offer advice.

"I asked about where the best escape route would be and we worked out my bedroom would be best because there was a large window we could be rescued from if need be. That is what I did and when the firemen got there that is exactly what they did. "

"I had only bought the chip pan earlier that day. I just fancied some real chips. I haven't had any since!"

Miss Guest's two children presented Mrs Davies with a card and a present to say thank you, while the fire service also had a goody bag to hand out to the children.

They were also shown around the control centre where Mrs Davies took the call.

One of the reasons Miss Guest was keen to go and meet the people who had helped save her family was to make her children aware of fire safety from an early age.

She asked for the best escape route when help was offered because she knew it was important to be aware of it thanks to some training she received when at school – and is keen to pass this information on.

While at Brindleyford Primary School, now Windmill Primary School, Miss Guest attended a Crucial Crew event aged 11.

These events are aimed at Year 6 children and put children into real-life role play scenarios to teach personal safety.

Miss Guest said: "The information I received from the fire service, when I was at school and when they came to my house, helped me get into a safe area of the house.

"But as soon as I shut the bedroom door, my plan went out the window and that's when I phoned the fire service. I wanted to make people aware of how important it is to be aware of fire risks, because surely prevention is better than the cure."

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.