Lynn Fawthorpe and Paul Dean raced to help after they heard an explosion and saw flames pouring from the house in Brantwood Avenue, Heaton, Bradford. They braved thick smoke to pull shocked Kauser Fazer and the two youngest children, aged 15 months and four, to safety as the windows of the house shattered in the intense heat. The other children aged five, six, seven, eight and nine, managed to get out themselves. No-one was injured. The blaze started in a back bedroom at 5.30pm on Saturday and destroyed the upstairs rooms of the house.
Fire investigations believe the blaze was caused by children playing with matches.
Mrs Fawthorpe said she was standing on her drive, two doors away, when she looked up and saw the flames. The mother was on the phone screaming to someone and her baby was asleep on the floor. Mr Dean, who had raced to help the rescue, said he had picked the children up and led them to safety. Her husband Mohammed Rashad, who returned home after being alerted to the fire by a friend, hailed them heroes. I thank all the neighbours in the street, without their help my family might not have got out safely.