Pensioner leaps for life in blaze drama

TWO couples were lucky to escape with their lives after a fire broke out at a Paignton bungalow.

Maurice and Brenda Bailey and friends Pauline Peters and Steve Kelly fled the fire which caused major damage to the Baileys' home in St Mary's Park, Collaton.

Mr and Mrs Bailey needed treatment at Torbay Hospital after the drama which started at 5am on Tuesday.

When the Baileys saw flames coming under their bedroom door, Brenda jumped to safety from a window.

She fell six feet on to a rabbit hutch, damaging two vertebrae and a bone in her leg, but Maurice made his escape without injury.

Pauline and Steve, from Cheshire, were staying with them but they managed to escape unhurt through the bungalow's front door.

An ambulance arrived and treated the Baileys for shock and smoke inhalation before taking them to Torbay Hospital, where Brenda's legs and back were X-rayed.

Fifteen firefighters, using three fire engines, spent an hour and a half getting the blaze under control, with some of the crew wearing breathing apparatus.

The bungalow's interior was gutted by the flames, leaving the bathroom, bedroom, hall and lounge blackened and soaked by hose water.

Watch commander Wyn Davies said: "They were very, very lucky, because there were no smoke alarms fitted.

"Particularly now that the winter's coming, with people using log-burning stoves, they should definitely make sure that smoke alarms are fitted and working."

Mr and Mrs Bailey's daughter, Caroline Lee, visited them at Torbay Hospital yesterday.

She told the Herald Express: "The fire burned and burned. We're so lucky to have a local fire station.

"People talk about cuts to the fire service, but without them I think it would have been fatal. They were brilliant.

"Mum and dad were suffering from shock. Dad's been released from hospital, but mum will be in for a while."