A firefighter praised the actions of a 12-year-old Shropshire boy who took swift action to prevent a catastrophe when fire broke out at his home.
Jordan Lowe returned home to find his kitchen full of smoke, switched off the gas cooker and quickly alerted his mum who was at a neighbour's home.
The schoolboy knew exactly what to do as he had just been on a firesetters' education course run by Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service after he had been caught playing with fire only weeks before.
Mum Donna said that if it wasn't for Jordan's immediate reaction their home could have been badly damaged.
"When I got into the house I couldn't see because of the smoke. I completely and utterly forgot that I had left the cooker on to boil some gammon and it had boiled dry," said Mrs Lowe, of Lime Grove, Oswestry.
"Our pet miniature terrier was hiding under a blanket. The smoke alarm was going off and it took more than an hour to get the smoke out of the house. I was very proud of Jordan. He is quite a little hero."
Two members of the brigade's firesetters team had earlier spent a number of sessions with Jordan telling him about the dangers of fire and taking him through their education programme. His mum called them in to help when she found he had been burning paper on the cooker and putting it into the plastic bin totally unaware of the danger.
Lynn Hosking, the brigade's Youth Officer, praised Jordan for his prompt action.
"The information Jordan had learned from the firesetters team meant that he knew how dangerous fire was and what to do in an emergency. It is imperative that while cooking you do not leave the room. The most common cause of fire attended by Shropshire firefighters is attributed to cooking left unattended.
"Our teams educate more than 100 children every year about the dangers of playing with fire with an average 85 per cent success rate.
"Jordan appears to have learned a new positive safety attitude towards fire and we are delighted that the free smoke alarms that we fitted into his home were working and gave them the early warning to raise the alarm."
