A HEROIC dad rescued his next-door-neighbour’s children from a deadly blaze that claimed the life of their beloved pet dog.
Bryan Wilson, from Dunfermline, Fife, was awoken by screams from 19-year-old Erin Mapstone who was trapped inside the house along with her 21-year-old brother Paul.
The 40-year-old rushed to their aid with a ladder and rescued Erin from an upstairs window where she was trapped in her bedroom, at around 5am on Saturday.
The siblings were reunited with their mum Karen, 47, Dade, Dennis, 49 and brother Andrew, 26 who were not in the house at the time.
The family were devastated by the death of their beloved pet dog Lexi, a -one-year-old black labrador, who died of smoke inhalation.
Despite his courageous actions, Mr Wilson, who is also a dad-of-three insisted he was not a hero.
“It’s just one of those things you do, I’m not a hero I just did what I had to,” he said.
“Dennis would do the same for me, thank God they were alright.
“The fire brigade are the real heroes because they actually went into the house.”
Miss Mapstone was woken up by the smoke alarm but had been trapped after smoke started coming through the floorboards.
Mrs Mapstone said: “Paul tried to get up to Erin but could not get up the stairs – the only way he could go was through the front door and he got a fireball in the back as well as his hair is all singed.
“At that point he was shouting for 999 and Bryan heard him shouting and came and got his ladders.
“They did not know where Erin was – they found her at the front window.
“Erin had opened her bedroom door and saw orange everywhere so she shut the door and went to the window.
“Bryan had the ladder to the front door and at that point there was smoke and flames coming out the top of the door – the ladder was red hit and Erin had to jump from the last five rungs.
“If Bryan did not have a ladder she would have jumped and had broken bones.”
Mrs Mapstone said she wanted to thank all their family, friends and neighbours for their kindness, especially Bryan.
“Their kindness and generosity is beyond words, they have been exceptional, even people we don’t know,” she added.
“You don’t expect things to happen to yourself, you hear about things but it just shows you that people are kind.
“The whole street had a collection for us and they gave us £450, even the ice-cream man came down especially to donate.”
Assessors from the Fire Brigade were still at the scene yesterday morning (Wednesday) in a bid to establish the cause.
