AN INSOMNIAC had a lucky escape when he slept through a fire alarm as his house filled with smoke.
Mike Hesketh fell asleep on the sofa at his home in Bury Street, Wrexham, after putting his two-year-old son to bed upstairs, completely unaware of the drama that was about to unfold.
When he awoke the living room was full of smoke and a fireman was shaking him and ordering him to get out of the house.
The 26-year-old immediately ran upstairs to make sure his son was ok, got him out of bed and rushed him to safety. It was only then that he got a chance to figure out what had happened.
He said: “It was so scary.
“I didn’t know what on earth was going on.
“I’d slept through the smoke building up and I didn’t even hear the fire alarm going off.
“My neighbours called the fire brigade and luckily I’d left the back door unlocked so the firemen were able to get in quickly.
“When I woke up there was a fireman stood next to me shouting if there was anyone else in the house. It was a real shock.
“I dread to think would might have happened otherwise.”
Mr Hesketh’s son Corey had managed to stuff some plastic toys into the top of the gas fire in the living room without his father knowing. As the fire heated up the plastic began to melt, filling the room with noxious fumes.
North Wales Fire and Rescue Service sent two crews to the house just after 8pm on Sunday and an ambulance took Mr Hesketh and Corey to Wrexham Maelor Hospital to check for smoke inhalation. They were both discharged not long after midnight.
There was little damage to their home but Mr Hesketh said he feels incredibly lucky the outcome was not worse.
Mr Hesketh said he has been suffering with sleep problems for a long time.
He had not planned to sleep when he settled down on the sofa but because he is always so exhausted he drifted off.
He said when he does sleep it becomes very deep very quickly which is why he didn’t hear the alarm.
l FIREFIGHTERS were called to a fire at a house at Bro Awelon, Penycae after a build up of twigs and leaves sparked a chimney fire.
The blaze broke out at about 9.15pm on Sunday and damaged the fire surround but no-one was hurt.
The crew from Wrexham used a thermal imaging camera, chimney rods and a stirrup pump to bring the fire under control.