SISTERS aged 11 and four escaped with their lives when a suspected arsonist set fire to their home.
Kaitlin Ord and her younger sister Abbie Wright had been left alone in their house for only 10 minutes when the property was targeted.
Kaitlin spotted the flames, woke her sleeping sister and got her to safety.
The incident happened in Plawsworth Road, Sacriston, County Durham, at 7.45pm on Thursday. The pair managed to escape through the back door and were found in a state of shock in the street by a neighbour.
Police have now launched an investigation into the blaze.
Parents Ian and Clare Wright had taken sons Zac, 14, and Archie, five, to football practice and had left Kaitlin to watch their younger daughter as she had fallen asleep on the sofa.
“When we were nearly home a relative rang to say there was a fire,” said Ian, 40. “When we pulled up the fire brigade was there, with the police.
“The girls had managed to get out and were with the neighbour next door. This could have turned out a lot worse as Kaitlin is usually upstairs listening to her music and wouldn’t have normally heard anything going on at the front door.”
Clare, 34, said: “The girls could have died in the fire. It could have ended very differently. It is terrifying to think someone can do this. We don’t know why this has happened to us. The police are going to investigate and we need to find who did this so they don’t do it to someone else.”
Firefighters say “something flammable” was pushed through the letterbox when the girls were at home. Officers said the girls were lucky to escape uninjured. Twelve firefighters arrived at the scene but damage was confined to the hallway.
David Tempest, crew manager at Durham fire station, said: “Something flammable was put through the letterbox. Two children were in the house at the time when the fire started at the front door and smoke filled the hallway.
“Obviously the front entrance of the house was then blocked, but, luckily, the back door was open, so they could escape. The fire was extinguished but this could have turned out a lot worse.”
A Durham Constabulary spokesman said: “Police were called just before 8pm on Thursday to a house in Plawsworth Road, Sacriston, following a report of a fire. The fire at front door of the house had been extinguished by a neighbour.
“Two girls in the house at the time, aged 11 and four, had escaped from the property themselves. They were not injured in any way. The fire is being treated as suspicious as it is believed an accelerant was poured through the letterbox, and it is being investigated by both police and the fire service.”
Police are appealing for witnesses and anyone with information about what happened should ring the non-emergency number 101 and ask to speak to Durham City CID. Alternatively contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.
