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A Meath councillor feels ‘incredibly lucky’ that his wife is alive after she had to jump from an upstairs window to escape a fire that gutted her two-story home.
ee Lawes is now recovering in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, Co. Louth after she suffered two broken feet in the fall from her bedroom window as flames engulfed her home in Johnstown, Navan
Her husband Alan, an independent councillor, was working in Cappagh Hospital when he was called on Monday morning by neighbours who helped his wife to safety after finding her lying at her front door.
Alan said he is just so thankful that his beloved wife is safe and that there was no-one else in the house at the time.
“Our home is gutted. Our belongings are gone. But my wife is safe and that’s all that matters,” he said.
“It could have been a lot worse. My daughter had stayed the night before and she had been in the attic room. Last week, my other daughter was home from New Zealand and everyone was staying at our house.
“The fire started in the hot press on the landing. If it happened one night before, my daughter wouldn’t have made it out from the attic. If it happened last week, with a packed house, there would have been casualties.
“I’m grateful for a lot of things right now. We have fire doors, and Dee always keeps the bedroom door shut. I don’t. If it was open, the fire would have spread to her very fast. As it was, the door worked as a shield to give her time to get out.
“Dee woke up coughing from the smoke at about 3.30am last Monday. She tried to escape but was met with a wall of flames and thick black smoke on the landing.
“Without thinking, she jumped out from our bedroom, breaking two feet on the concrete driveway below.
“My fantastic neighbours in Boyne View heard the house alarm going off and looked out the window to see Dee. I was working in Cappagh when I got the call to say she was safe, but the house was in flames
“My neighbours even put themselves in danger in cutting a lock to turn off the gas supply and making sure our two cats and two dogs got out of the house.
“The upstairs of the house is gutted and the rest is water damaged. I’m now in the process of trying to source a property to stay in temporarily while the house is being rebuilt. Thank God I’ve great friends who are offering short stays in their houses.
“You never think that a fire is going to happen to you. And we don’t know yet how it started, only that it started in the hot press.
“My wife’s bravery and quick thinking saved her life. Me, my four daughters Elaine, April, Natalie and Amy and our nine grandchildren are incredibly proud of her.”
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