Alarm saves life of boy sleeping in toxic smoke

A six-year-old boy had a lucky escape after an electrical fault sparked a blaze in his bedroom.

A smoke alarm saved little Kieran Chadderton’s life after alerting his mum to the fire in the middle of the night so that she could rescue him from the toxic smoke.

The drama happened in a terrace house in St Mary’s Street, Oldham, at 1.22am today after Kieran had been allowed to watch a film on his TV/DVD combi as a school holiday treat before going to bed.

He was fast asleep when the TV ignited and his bedroom door was shut. But smoke drifted on to the landing and set off the alarm with mum Kirsty Waller (31) able to get him and two people downstairs out of the house.

The pair suffered smoke inhalation and are currently in hospital but their condition is not believed to be serious.

A smoke alarm was fitted two years ago by fire-fighters after a Home Fire Risk Assessment while Oldham Council had also fitted a hard wire system that means a smoke alarm sounds even if its batteries are dead.

Oldham fire station watch commander Mark Williams said: “Without the smoke alarm it would definitely have been a fatality. TVs give off a large amount of very toxic smoke. But everything worked together — the smoke alarm, the council’s system and the mum’s actions.

“It’s an amazing story. Because of the council policy of fitting the system it saved this boy’s life in no uncertain terms.”

The only damage after fire-fighters extinguished the blaze was to the TV.