A group of quick-thinking pals have been hailed as heroes for raising the alarm after a fire swept through a block of flats in Blackburn.
Jay Jay Blake, Kaiden Smith and Caiden Anderson, all 11 years old, helped to make sure people living at the Rowan Terrace flats got out safely after the blaze last weekend.
The boys raised the alarm after they saw the smoke billowing from the flats at around 5.40pm on Saturday, January 22.
Residents were evacuated while fire crews tackled the flames on the top floor of the building.
Four appliances attended alongside the fire investigation unit.
Kaiden’s gran Anne said he is a true hero and his whole family are so proud of him and his pals.
She told the Courier: “Kaiden is autistic and has learning difficulties and normally he would freeze at that kind of thing.
“But when him and his friends saw the smoke they phoned 999 and helped.
“We have had the police up and they said that they did really well and that they should be really proud of themselves.
“We also had a phonecall from the CID saying that the firemen were very grateful and had they not phoned when they did it would all had a very different outcome.”
Anne continued: “I’m absolutely over the moon, especially since he normally lacks confidence. He normally panics if he sees anything untoward. I really can’t tell you how proud I am.
“I sent a wee note to school with him to tell the teacher what he had done and the headteacher phoned me to say he will receive a special headteacher award for his bravery and that they’re very proud of him.”
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