Peterborough mum 'so proud' of nine-year-old son who saved family minutes from death in house fire

A Peterborough mum has expressed her pride at her son after he raised the alarm that their house was on fire, allowing them to flee in the nick of time.

Nine-year-old Rocco alerted his mum, Tinah Mariah, at around 8am on Sunday morning to a fire in their home in Barnstock in Bretton.

Also in the house at the time were his brother Ronnie (7) and sister Lacie (11) as well as friend, Shibby Anker and her two children Lacey (5) and Lola (8).

They were all forced to flee via a downstairs window and watch minutes later as the fire spread.

Tinah said: “I’m so proud of him and he knows that. If he didn’t wake us up, we wouldn’t be here now.

"Two minutes later and we would have been gone and there were five kids in that house. I was told by the fire brigade that I was very lucky as we got out just in time.

“I just remember being asleep in the room above the fire and Rocco bursting in saying a bomb must have gone off.

"I was scared to go downstairs because I thought the tumble dryer had exploded but then I saw smoke coming out of the walls.

"I rushed downstairs, couldn’t find the keys as they weren’t where they should have been and we had to get everyone out through a window.

“Everything happens for a reason though.”

Once outside, the family also found their shed on fire as well as some rubbish.

The family all escaped uninjured but have lost all of their belongings.

Currently, they are staying in a B&B but found a new place to stay, which they will be moving into on Friday.

An appeal for new clothes was put out online and a GoFundMe page has been launched to support the family to get back on their feet.

The GoFundMe page can be found at www.gofundme.com/f/rj7355-house-fire.

A 15-year-old is currently on bail until August after being arrested on suspicion of arson.

A second boy of the same age was also arrested but has since been released without charge.

The Barnstock fire was not an isolated incident in Bretton on Sunday morning as crews were called to incidents at the Hudds Meadow estate and Peterborough Lions Rugby Club.