Girl saves family from burning home
A 19-year-old girl is being hailed a hero after saving her family from a fire which destroyed almost half of their home in Melbourne's inner north.
Firefighters attended the property in Brunswick early this morning, and managed to stop the intense blaze spreading to neighbouring properties.
MFB Commander Mick Swift said the teenager was asleep in the lounge room when she was woken by intense heat, and the smoke alarm going off.
She fled the room and raised the alarm, alerting her parents and siblings to the blaze, which is believed to have been started by a heater.
Commander Swift said the girl's quick-thinking actions may have saved her family's lives.
"The girl was very lucky that she woke when the fire was burning," he said.
"It was very courageous of the young lady to make sure that everyone else was alerted to the fire and everyone escaped safely."
Commander Swift stressed the importance of a working smoke alarm, which allowed the family enough time to escape the fire.
"The smoke from the room set off the smoke alarm in the house and alerted everyone else to the fire. It allowed them time to escape safely.
"A delay in escape would have resulted in significant injuries, if not a fatality in this case.
"It just goes to show the importance of having a smoke alarm installed, so that you get early warnings that a fire is in the premises."
The fire gutted the property, which has been home to the family for 30 years.
The cause at this stage is unknown and fire investigators are on the scene this morning.
