Hero boy saves neighbours
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A twelve-year-old St Blazey boy has been hailed a hero for risking his life to save his neighbours from a raging fire.Peter Tyrell raised the alarm as a fire ripped through two properties in Rosehill, St Blazey, and helped the family escape last Monday night.
The quick thinking Fowey Community College student was in his house in Landreath Place when he spotted smoke and flames coming from a house in neighbouring Rosehill, where his mother was visiting friends.
He raced to the two semi-detached properties that border the main road in St Blazey and banged on both doors to raise the alarm, dodging a loose high voltage power cable that was flailing on the ground.
Peter said: “I was in my house and I looked out the window and saw smoke and flames out of the back windows and ran up there and got mum who was visiting her friends.
“When I got there I banged on the door and told them that the house was on fire and then they all ran out.
“While I was knocking on the door the electrical cable fell down and nearly hit me. It was sparking and fizzing, it was moving all over the place and I thought it was going to get me. I was really frightened and ran off quickly.”
Firefighters from Fowey and St Austell were mobilised to the fire, and more resources were requested with further crews from Fowey, Mevagissey and St Austell, and the aerial ladder platform in attendance.
The owner of the next door property, Joan Collings, saw her loft space burned out, but insists that Peter’s prompt actions saved her and her family’s lives.
Joan said: “It was shocking, very shocking, we were completely unaware that anything was wrong at all. If Peter hadn’t alerted us we would probably have got burned. What I didn’t realise was how close to danger Peter was, we had heard the cable sort of explode and saw everyone run in every direction.
“Peter is in my eyes a hero, without him I would have lost my youngest daughter for certain, who was upstairs in the house. In fact I think we all owe our lives to him.”
Peter’s mum Carol attributes her son’s good fortune to other reasons.
“He’s very brave, and very lucky, but he was born on Friday 13th!” she said.
“Seriously. it was a very brave and grown up thing to do — I dread to think what would have happened if he had been touched by that cable.”
