Hero four-year-old helps save residents from fire

Little Siena Fayinke was on her way back from the park with her mum Janet Howard when she spotted a top floor flat on fire and black smoke billowing out of the windows.

The quick-thinking youngster told her mum who then dashed to the flats on Nutbeem Road, Eastleigh to help. Janet called 999, shouted up to residents inside their homes and even begun ringing on doorbells urging them to get out.

Firefighters from Eastleigh and St Mary’s fire stations were called where they made sure residents were safe and battled the kitchen blaze for half an hour.

It is believed one of the tenants of the flats had gone out but left food cooking inside.

Last night mum-of-two Kelly May, who lives in the flat next to the fire but did not realise what was happening, called Siena a hero saying if she hadn’t spotted the flames when she did, her family might not have got out.

She said: “She is our little hero.

“We only knew about the fire because we had looked outside and heard the commotion so that meant we were able to get out.

“If it wasn’t for Siena, I dread to think what might have happened. Thank you isn’t enough, she saved our lives.”

Siena’s mum Janet, who lives in nearby Chamberlayne Road, added: “We were on our way back from the park and Siena suddenly looked up and said to me ‘there’s a fire mummy, there’s a fire’.

“It took a while to register what she was saying but sure enough I looked up and the flames were bright orange and there was all this smoke billowing out of a little window.

“She was the one who pointed it out. I went over and had to let people know because people were inside.

“I was a little reluctant because I was half expecting to be flung back with a big explosion.

It was very frightening.”

A spokeswoman for Hampshire Fire and Rescue said three crews attended the kitchen fire just before 8pm on Friday night.

She added a fire investigation officer was called out over the weekend to investigate the cause.