Leicester: Police saved mum and children from burning building

A police officer has recalled how he saved a mother and two young children from a fire in a 10-storey building.

PC Elliot Godden and his colleague PC Vishal Dave ran to Epic House on Charles Street, Leicester, after smoke was seen coming out of the fifth floor on 16 November.

The pair entered the building to check it was empty and found the family on the ninth floor.

PC Godden said the family might not have been able to escape without help.

He said: "With the make-up of the building, they had zero idea they were in a burning building."

"They wouldn't have been able to see or smell the smoke.

"They were not getting ready to leave at all."

The fire was on the fifth floor of the 10-storey building

He said he and his colleague had arrived at the scene before the fire service and had initially focused on clearing the area around the building.

He added: "Glass was shattering and people were virtually directly underneath it."

The officers had then decided to enter the high-rise flats to check nobody was inside.

PC Godden said: "I had shivers going down the back of my spine, thinking how bad does it look and who was inside."

"I had to check. Having lived in a multi-storey building, fire alarms do go off regularly and you do become a little blasé but it just takes that one time.

"For me, it was a case of 'What if it was my family?' I was going to do everything I could to get them out."

The father-of-one said he had felt "a bit of panic" at floor six, because he had been aware the fire had been developing on the floor below.

"Would I then be able to come back down the stairs?" he said.

When the officers found the family, they helped the mother carry her children down the stairs.

"When they were inside the building, they were quite frightened but afterwards they were very grateful," he said.

Fire crews used a "high reach" platform to tackle the blaze

Leicestershire Fire and Rescue said the fire was in a domestic flat. An investigation found it had not been started deliberately.

City centre neighbourhood area commander, Insp Nadia Rana said: "PC Dave and PC Godden put their own lives at risk in order to ensure everyone was out of the building safely.

"Their actions were extremely brave and we are all very proud of both of them."