Women escape electric blanket fire

AN 89-YEAR-OLD woman and her daughter had a narrow escape from their burning house in Yarra Glen on 7 October.
A neighbour spotted smoke coming from the house on the Healesville-Yarra Glen Road at around 3.30pm and called 000.
The property had been surrounded by fire on Black Saturday with fences damaged, but the house had escaped unscathed.
Yarra Glen CFA Third Lieutenant Les King said the women were already being attended to by paramedics when the brigade arrived, just minutes after receiving the call.
Although the house was considerably damaged, Mr King said it could have been much worse.
He said the quick action of the neighbour, and the fact that the brigade was on the scene within four minutes of the call, meant the fire was contained.“We have definitely put it down as a good save,” he said.
“The fire had started to get into the roof line, so two more minutes and the whole house could have been engulfed. We were able to confine the damage to two bedrooms,” he said. The older woman was taken to Maroondah Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation and was later released.
Mr King said the fire was believed to have been caused by an electric blanket and told people to check electrical appliances.