Catherine Dearden, who was saved from blaze as child, finally meets her saviours at emotional reunion

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Allen Buckley, Catherine Dearden and Dave Jones

It was an emotional reunion at Rochdale fire station, as Catherine Dearden met Allen Buckley and Dave Jones, the two firefighters who saved her and her sister’s lives from a fire in 1978 when she was just five-years-old.

Shedding a few tears, Catherine said: “I just wanted to meet the men who saved us.

“I don’t remember it, we were told we had been watching television and there was a ‘spark’, I don’t know where from.

“I had to be resuscitated when they brought me out. We did go back to the house as teens, but we only stood outside. We moved across from the Mayfield after the fire.

“I’m so happy to have met them; it’s brought closure and answered a few questions that I wanted answering.”

They were joined by Catherine’s 15-year-old daughter, Carly Boardman, her good friend Paula Crane, Councillor Shaun O’Neill, who is a member of the Fire Authority, Fire Museum Curator Bob Bonner, Dave’s wife, SM Mark Doggett and various members of the fire service. Andrea was not present as she emigrated to Australia around a decade ago.

43-year old Catherine had not seen either Allen, 69, or Dave, 60, since that night in December when the family house on Blackstone Avenue, Belfield, caught fire, trapping her and her younger sister Andrea, who was four at the time, upstairs.

Their older sister, Lynne, who was seven, escaped through the kitchen, Cath told us.

Catherine received severe burns and was left in a coma for six weeks following the blaze. She has received laser treatment on her face for the burns in addition to skin grafts.

Following an open day on 25 September, Catherine approached Mark, to tell him about the house fire and how she was rescued, but never had the chance to thank the firefighters for saving her and her family’s lives.

Consequently, an article was published in the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Services staff newsletter, which lead retired firefighter Bob, to track down those who had saved her.

He looked back through old newspaper clippings until he found one dated Wednesday 6 December 1978, which held the details from that frightful day. Unusually, the firefighters involved had all been named within the article, allowing Bob to track them down.

“I’m so thankful to meet everyone as I’ve always wanted to say thank you for getting us out of there.”

Allen, who retired in 1997, remembered: “I was a firefighter for 33-and-a-half years and I must have seen three, four thousand fires in that time, that one always stood out as the most rewarding to have rescued two children.

“I remember, we got the call just before 6pm, when we were about to go on parade. When we arrived, we found the fire at the bottom of the stairs, just inside the front door.

“Cath’s mum had tried to drag this burning chair out of the front door, where it got stuck at the bottom of the stairs. There was a rack of clothes near to it, which caught, and then did the stairs. Cath and her sister had run upstairs.

“The neighbours had seen it happen- one brought a ladder out and put it up against the window.

“I was part of the first pump team, and it was too hot to go up the ladder. The second pump team put the fire out and we went up stairs.

“There was no-one in that first bedroom, but in the second, I found Cath on the floor and carried her out to the stairs where she was taken to the ambulance.”

Dave, who retired in 2006, continued: “I was first on the ladder at the front window, in the far corner of this bedroom was a bed with a small child by it. I picked her up and passed her to Dave Smith, who took her down the ladder.

“I don’t think she [Andrea] was breathing, I think she was unconscious. Both of you might have been as it was a very serious and toxic fire, but the main thing is we had two survivors.”

Mark Doggett said: “I’m delighted to invite Cath, Allan and Dave to the station for a good luck story, a traumatic story with a positive result.

“It was clear Cath needed answers about that day, and we couldn’t have done it without the number of individuals here with us today.

“These guys are Cath’s heroes who saved her and Andrea’s lives.

“It’s been a pleasure to invite you as guests to thank you for helping Cath, and showing the fire service in light of good we do saving lives.”

Cath’s friend, Paula, said: “It’s been a very emotional day for Cath. She’s been through a lot in life, not just the fire, but she always comes out fighting.

“Closure is what was needed.”

At the end of their reunion, Cath, Allen and Dave all swapped email addresses to keep in contact.