“We had a really lucky escape, if Keith had not woken it could have been a really different situation.”
A Co Antrim mum said her family could have lost everything after a bin fire caused their oil tank to explode in the early hours of Boxing Day.
Victoria Nichols, who runs The Wee Village outside Doagh, said they were “extremely lucky” her father-in-law Keith was awoken by a bang and was able to raise the alarm.
The mum-of-three told Belfast Live the blaze was caused by a build up of carbon monoxide after her husband Graeme put cold ashes in their brown bin on Christmas Day and now they want to spread awareness so the same thing doesn’t happen to anyone else.
“We were so extremely lucky,” said Victoria, who is mum to Anna, Nancy, and Frances with husband Graeme.
“As normal on Christmas Eve we had not put any more logs on the fire, we only burn logs, so the last time any logs had been put on the fire was 10pm that night.
“The next morning the kids were opening their presents and Graeme cleaned out the fire at 11am. We only burn logs, not coal, so it was just grey dust and he put it in the brown bin as normal.”
The family enjoyed Christmas Day with Graeme’s parents Keith and Angela, who were visiting from England, and regularly passed the bins throughout the day as they walked their dog Elvis around the house.
Victoria said the last time they walked past the bins with Elvis was at around 1am on Boxing Day before going to bed.
“We did not smell or see anything that would have concerned us,” she said.
It was then at around 2.45am that her father-in-law Keith was woken by a bang, which was the oil tank exploding after the fire from the bin spread to it.
Oil Tank Fire
“My father in law is a true hero,” said Victoria.
“He woke up hearing a bang and thought something had happened, he looked out of the window and saw flames.”
Keith sprang into action to raise the alarm and went and woke his son so they could try and keep the blaze under control before the arrival of the fire service.
Victoria got their three daughters and mother-in-law safely to a neighbour’s house as the family came to terms with what could have been a catastrophic fire.
“The fire brigade were there within 10 minutes and were phenomenal but it felt like a long 10 minutes. Keith and Graeme never left the fire and kept the hose on it,” said Victoria.
“We had a really lucky escape, if Keith had not woken it could have been a really different situation.”
She added: “We are reopening The Wee Village tomorrow, we want to keep things as normal as we can for the kids, I do not want them to dwell on it, but for me it is all about the what ifs.”
Victoria has taken to her own social media account for The Wee Village to raise awareness for others on the dangers of putting ashes, even when they are cold, into the bin.
“Please, please make sure you never put cold ashes in a brown bin because as explained by the fire service the carbon monoxide had continued to build up during the day and combusted. We could have lost everything last night,” she told her followers.
“We are so so lucky and we are so grateful to our friends, builders and neighbours today for all your help. We couldn’t have done it without you!
“We are holding each other all a bit tighter tonight and we really want to try and forget the scenes from last night it was horrific! It could have been so much worse but the mean thing is we are all ok! My Father in Law Keith is a true hero!”
Antrim Fire Crew shared Victoria’s post and added: “Crews from Antrim and Crumlin attended an oil tank on fire shortly after 3am this morning. Crews using Breathing Apparatus extinguished the fire using foam and hose reel jets.
“At this time of year please be very careful where you dispose of hot ashes from fire and make sure you have working smoke alarms.”
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