Brave Lee (11) hailed a hero after saving mum from Craigavon barbeque fire
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St Francis’ PS pupil Lee Townsend heard crackling from outside his Pinebank and alerted his mother to the fire outside.
Just as his mother was leaving the living room to investigate a neighbour rapped her door to alert her to the blaze.
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Hide AdMum Yvonne McConaghy said: “He come down the stairs and said mummy something in the yard crackling. He was in my bedroom so could hear it.
“Then the door wrapped and lady at the door also alerted us so to the danger.
“I ran out the back got the hose started to try and put the fire out. Meanwhile Lee was on the phone to the fire brigade telling them what was happening.
“Then they asked to speak to me. At the same time we were running out the front when I realised flames were too high and were at oil tank.”
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Hide Ad“Lee stayed with me the whole time. Keeping me calm I think,” said Yvonne, hailing him a hero.
She said he was concerned about his guinea pigs who were in the house and wanted to rescue them but luckily there were OK.
She revealed they had a barbeque earlier in the day and the disposable BBQ had been out from around 6pm.
Yvonne said the she had put it out with water a few hours before she disposed of it in the bin.
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Hide AdHowever it must have reignited and melted her bin and then the flames moved to the oil tank and a new shed which was about to be put up.
Yvonne said: “We’re very lucky. I have a hose done it myself. I sat for two hours before it went in the bin,”
Yvonne praised her son who immediately knew to ring 999 before she got to the back door.
“I tried to put out but flames were too high but the fire fighters arrived in five minutes.
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Hide Ad“I also want to thank the lady who alerted me, as well as the firefighters.”
“I also want to thank the fireman who chatted to us. He was lovely. He come into house to check all was OK and even stopped to say hello to the piggies. He was lovely.”
Yvonne added: “Standing at the front door, I thought my whole house had gone.”
Her garden has been destroyed, her kitchen windows cracked and has no heating but she is thankful that she and her son survived.
“I’ve used those disposable BBQs a million times but always disposed of them the next day,” she said.
“Thankfully we got wee electric fire in living room if it gets cold,” said Yvonne.
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