Mother speaks of fire drama

AN Ipswich mother today recalled the horrifying moments she had to hold her baby daughter out of an upstairs window to protect her from a fire raging below.

Julie Denny spent today contemplating her family's lucky escape after fire devastated their Rectory Road house.

The 31-year-old and her daughters Maisie, three and Isabel, one, were pulled from the first floor window of their burning terraced house at about 4.25am today.

"I was woken up when I heard a bang," Ms Denny said.

"I thought one of my cats had knocked something over but I opened my bedroom door to go downstairs and the smoke began pouring in."

A terrified Ms Denny quickly got Maisie from a nearby bedroom and shut herself and her daughters in the upstairs bedroom. She called the fire service with her mobile and was given instructions on how to stay alive in the choking smoke.

"I tried the land line and that just went dead, I always take my mobile to bed with me just in case anything happens during the night.

"The woman from the fire service told me to keep low and to keep the door shut."

To protect her baby daughter from the smoke Ms Denny held Isabel out of the window while Maisie hid under some bedclothes.

"I was terrified," she said.

"It was very, very thick, you couldn't see the bed from the window and it's only two or three feet. The fact I have got two children and I was trapped upstairs with them made me try to work out a way I could get them out before the firefighters arrived but I couldn't. I was worried about my cats as well."

One of Ms Denny's 10 cats, called Sherbet was killed in the fire, four were rescued but five were today still missing. She fears for their safety and has appealed for help in finding them.

"They've got no survival instincts, they've been indoors all their lives," she said.

Ms Denny is desperate for information about the whereabouts of the cats. Anyone with information should call 01394 274330.

She also issued a heartfelt thank you to the fire fighters, paramedics, RSPCA officers and neighbours who helped in the rescue and in the hours after the fire.