UPDATE: Hero mum rescues children from Fareham fire

Picture via Twitter: Fareham Fire Staion

Quick-thinking Sheridan Spencer ensured the blaze didn’t spread and put her daughters in danger before leading them to safety.

The drama unfolded after Mrs Spencer and Louis Vine, 16, Lily-Mae Vine, 13, and Lexi Spencer, five, prepared to settle down for the evening at their home in Johns Road, Fareham, last night.

Speaking to The News, Mrs Spencer said: ‘The children and I were upstairs and the little one was in bed. Then all of a sudden, the smoke alarm started going off.

‘So I went downstairs and there was smoke coming out from above the kitchen door.

‘I opened it and the fire was taking hold in the left hand side of the kitchen.

‘So I shut the door, and shouted to the kids “get out, we are on fire”.’

The 41-year-old then scrambled out of the house with her daughters – and grabbed the pet dog – before calling 999.

Sheridan Spencer, 41, outside her home in Johns Road, Fareham, where a fire sparked by a dishwasher took hold PPP-161020-122801001

They were then taken in by a neighbour as firefighters raced to the scene and extinguished the blaze, which damaged most of the kitchen.

Today the family have made preparations to get the damage assessed.

Mrs Spencer said: ‘The firefighters told me that if it wasn’t for the fact I had shut the kitchen door, the children wouldn’t have made it downstairs and we wouldn’t have been able to get out.

‘I was very scared – especially as I had to get my three kids and the dog out.

‘I am just trying to take it all in, it’s a bit of a shock.

‘You just don’t expect this sort of thing to happen.

‘One minute it’s 6.30pm and you’re in the kitchen, and then it’s 7pm and the house is on fire. The fire took hold, but we got out.

‘I cannot thank the fire service enough for all of their help and support. They were amazing.

‘It’s just shocking how quickly it all happened.

‘They said I did an amazing job of making sure the kitchen door was shut, as that contained the fire.

‘So it could have been a lot worse.’

Two crews from Fareham fire station were called to the scene and put out the fire within 15 minutes of arrival.

A spokesman from Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service praised the family’s planning, saying that closing the kitchen door had limited the damage to the kitchen.

He said this also restricted the smoke to the kitchen, allowing the family a safe escape route.

He also reminded people to test their smoke alarms.