Mum and son have lucky escape when an e-cigarette exploded and sparked a fire – despite being UNPLUGGED
Jill Oswald bravely put out the flames as she feared for eight-year-old's life
AN exploding e-cigarette sparked a fierce fire in a family home - leaving a mum and son fearing for their lives.
Jill Oswald was forced to leap into action and put out the blaze after hearing a loud bang as she watched TV with her eight-year-old son Aydin.
The quick-thinking mum put the fire out but was astonished to learn from fire crews that the blaze was caused by an e-cigarette.
What’s more, she said, it wasn’t even plugged in.
“It could’ve been so different,” said Jill. “Had my little boy been standing there, or had we not been here, there would have been a major fire.
“It would have been right next to my bed.”
Jill, 43, said Aydin was watching TV in her bedroom at around 11.40pm on Wednesday when she “heard a loud bang from the side of the bed.
";I just screamed because I could see sparks, smoke and fire.
I went into overdrive. I thought ‘fire’ and ‘my child.'
Jill Oswald
“Aydin was on that side of the bed and he scrambled over me.
“I got off the bed and ran round the side where it happened, and there were flames.
“I went into overdrive. I thought ‘fire’ and ‘my child.’
“My main concern was that there was an electrical cable running next to the flames, so I had to pull it out.
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“I couldn’t see what was on fire. My initial thought was it must be a plug socket.
"I managed to put the fire out but there were still fragments glowing on the floor.”
She called the fire service and, after arriving within three minutes, a crew from Ladywood Station thoroughly examined the scene.
“They were trying to determine what the fragments were, said it was the battery end of an e-cigarette” she said.
“It wasn’t plugged in, that’s what is so scary. I don’t know how it got there. I don’t think I will use e-cigs again.”
Brave Aydin remained calm throughout the incident and even made a video praising the work of the fire crews.
“Aydin was so grown up,” said Jill. “I was so proud of him.”
A West Midlands Fire Service spokesman said: “The fire involved an electrical vapour cigarette in a bedroom on the third floor of a maisonette block.
“The fire affected the bedroom and it was out on arrival. They gave some advice to the occupant.”
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