Councillor's praise for fire heroes

Three fire engines from Chadderton, Hollins and Mossley attended the incident

A senior Oldham Councillor, Shaid Mushtaq, publicly praised actions which saved lives of family members after fire broke out at a family gathering.

Samiah Hussain, one of the mums attending the get-together with the councillor’s niece, Zarah, a pupil at Westwood High, arrived at the Lynwood Drive, Greenacres property on Friday and saw a blaze in the house porch.

Said Councillor Mushtaq: ”Samiah’s actions literally saved the lives of my sister-in-law, my nephew, niece and other extended family members.

“She alerted everyone inside the house who had no idea what was happening, then proceeded to try to put the fire out.

“Then my beautiful niece, Zarah, risked her life to run upstairs through the thick black smoke to alert her brother, Aadam, 18, who was oblivious to what was happening.”

Zarah’s father, Tariq, said: ‘I’m so proud of my daughter. 

"Everyone was panicking, but she stayed calm.

"She realised her brother was upstairs.

"She covered her mouth because of the smoke and ran upstairs to get him out of the house.”

Councillor Mushtaq (above) added: “Thank you also to the fire service who arrived in numbers and dealt with the situation making the home safe to re-enter.”

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) said: “At just after 1pm on Friday July 5, fire crews were called to reports of fire at a home on Lynwood Drive, Oldham.

“Three fire engines from Chadderton, Hollins and Mossley quickly attended the incident.

"Fire crews made the area safe before departing after approximately 45 minutes.”

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