Girl jumps from burning house window into man's arms

A "heroic" neighbour saved the lives of a man and his two daughters who were trapped inside their burning house, firefighters have said.

Ben Hough and another neighbour used a ladder to help rescue them from an upstairs window of their home in Leigh, Wigan, after the fire broke out at about 06:00 GMT on Thursday.

One of the children, a young girl, jumped from a window into Mr Hough's arms after her dad had shouted for help.

Chris Evans, from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS), said: "What the neighbours did here in helping to rescue this family was incredibly brave and we commend them."

Sabrina Hough told BBC Radio Manchester about when she spotted the two children hanging from an upstairs window.

"I was getting ready for work, I heard a crackling noise in our kitchen.

"And I went outside and had a look and saw our neighbour's house and the extension was on fire.

"The two girls were hanging in the window, shouting 'get a ladder'.

The 40-year-old said her husband Ben "and our other neighbour stood in front of the window with a ladder and was able to get [one of the children] out.

"But he wasn't able to reach [the other girl] - she was so scared.

"Then eventually she jumped into Ben's arms.

"It was very emotional.

Of her husband's actions, she said: "I'm very proud.

"And it's very sad that they lost their entire house and everything in it, but we're so lucky that they're still alive and they made it out."

Mrs Hough said the father was the last one to make it out of the house since he had tried to "save as much as he could" from the flames.

She added: "The fire engines came shortly afterwards - I remember we were afraid that it was gonna go into the other houses and our children were in bed."

Sharon Henrys lives opposite the house.

The 54-year-old said: "It was awful - it was so bad.

"They're a lovely family and they'd do anything for anybody and it's just so tragic because this has happened just over a week before Christmas."

Mrs Henrys said she raised the alarm after hearing shouts coming from the house.

"I woke up at six to get up for work and I looked out and the two girls were sat out of the window - and he was just shouting for help," she said.

"I ran outside shouting in the street 'Fire, fire, help, help!'"

After Ms Henrys alerted the rest of the street and called the emergency services, she said her neighbours "heroically" climbed a ladder to rescue the trapped family.

Mr Evans, GMFRS station manager for Wigan and Hindley, said: "We would like to thank these neighbours who bravely sprung into action to rescue this family from their home as firefighters arrived.

"Our crews will be in the area over the coming days to reassure residents about being 'fire safe' in the home over the winter, and to stress the importance of having a working smoke alarm on every floor of your home."

Greater Manchester Police said: "We attended reports of a fire on Laxey Crescent, Leigh alongside emergency service colleagues.

"The occupants got out of the property safely, with no life-threatening or changing injuries reported.

"The circumstances of the fire are being investigated."

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