Fire brigade comes to children’s rescue after Christmas blaze

FIRE officers came to the rescue in more ways than one when they saved a young mother of three from a house fire in Tallaght, Co Dublin, and then arranged for Santa to visit her children in hospital to replace presents destroyed in the Christmas Day blaze.

Despite a raging fire that gutted her house, Vivienne Kellet, aged 28, passed her children Ellen, 10, Thomas, 3, and Eric, six months, through a tiny upstairs window into the arms of waiting neighbours, before being rescued herself.

The mother and her children are today recovering in hospital. Vivienne, who suffered minor burns, was moved from Intensive Care yesterday and is recovering well while the children are set to be discharged from hospital shortly.