Gas heroes save family (From Warrington Guardian)

Gas heroes save family

A DRAMATIC rescue attempt by two policemen and a Transco worker helped save a Winsford family who were asleep in a gas filled house.

The Dalziels, of School Road, were led to safety by the three brave men who had to carefully break-into the house without making any noise, realising if the family awoke they might switch on a light which could have sparked a massive explosion.

PC Keith Barnett, PC Simon Parker and Winsford-based gas worker Gary Barnett have been hailed as heroes following the incident.

The crisis began when Gary, aged 25, received an emergency call from the Dalziel family's next-door neighbour, Mrs Garnett, who detected a strong smell of gas in her home.

But after checking the gas, Gary found the hazardous substance was emerging from underneath the skirting boards.

He explained: "I checked all through the house but found no gas escape from Mrs Garnett's home, but I soon discovered it was coming from the house next door.

"And, after putting my gas monitor through the letterbox, I discovered it had built up to a dangerous level.

"I was told there was a family asleep inside and I knew that if I just knocked on the door to wake them, they might switch on a light."

Gary admitted: "I was very concerned for their safety and so I alerted the police."

It was 3.30am when the police arrived and still asleep inside the house were Bernard Dalziel, aged 49, his wife Pat, 47, 13-year-old son Brett and friend Kevin Prendergast.

PC Parker described the rescue operation.

"Fortunately, the door was not very secure and so we were able to break in quite easily," he said.

"We just used a bit of force. I went to get the children while Keith was responsible for helping the adults. We quickly explained the situation, telling them we all had to get out quickly."

Looking back on the drama, Mr Dalziel, said: "I was cleaning up the kitchen before I went to bed and must have accidentally knocked the gas switch on the cooker."

Mrs Dalziel added: "The next thing we knew, there was a policeman at the bottom of our bed. I thought I was dreaming. But we were both so drowsy from the gas that we just listened to what he said and followed his instructions.

"We are all lucky to be alive today."

Mr Dalziel added: "If the three parties - our neighbour, the gas-man and the police - had not acted so quickly we would all be dead. I cannot stress how grateful we are to everybody involved. These people, without a doubt, saved our lives."

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