Happy Valley teen being hailed a hero for alerting sleeping parents to house fire

A HAPPY Valley couple’s 13-year-old son has been hailed a hero for alerting his sleeping parents to a fire at their home in the early hours of this morning.

Fire destroyed this house on Balee Road at Happy Valley Photo: AAP/Emma Brasier)

A HAPPY Valley couple’s 13-year-old son has been hailed a hero for alerting his sleeping parents to a fire at their home in the early hours of this morning.

The blaze was sparked by an unattended candle in the bathroom of the family’s Balee Rd home and quickly took hold, destroying the property, just after 5am.

But despite their loss, Sue and Darren, who asked that their last name be withheld, are grateful no one was injured in the incident, and say they have their son Matthew to thank for it.

“You saved us sweetheart - you’re a hero,” Sue, 48, told her son.

Darren and Sue were asleep in bed when the fire broke out and didn’t awake when the smoke alarm sounded.

But Matthew realised something was wrong and after discovering the house was ablaze, he quickly sprang into action.

“My son came down and goes ‘mum, there’s smoke’ and we went into the bathroom and it was in the bathroom,” Sue said.

Darren, 44, said he thought it was only a small fire at first.

“You saved us sweetheart – you’re a hero,”

“Then I realised it was in the wall cavity and then it was in the ceiling,” he said.

“I ran outside to get the hose because I thought I might be able to minimise the damage...and it was (coming) out of the eaves and before I knew it I could see the glare of the flames through the (roof) tiles.

“Within two or three minutes it was just gone.”

The family, including their two dogs Albie and Henry and rescue cat Crompton, who the family adopted from the RSPCA, all evacuated safely.

“(Crompton’s) been rescued twice now,” Darren joked.

Sue and Darren’s 15-year-old daughter Chelsea was away for the night and it is understood her bedroom sustained the least damage.

Darren tried to grab some items from the house and managed to retrieve his computer but everything else had to be left behind.

“The airconditioning ducts fell out of the ceiling, flaming on fire and I knew I didn’t have long,” he said.

The family then stood outside the home, as CFS and MFS crews spent 40 minutes containing the fire and a further 10 minutes extinguishing it, watching in disbelief.

“We just stood out here and watched our house burn down,” Sue said.

“You work really hard to have your things and just like that, within half an hour, it’s all gone.”

Sue also had a warning for others who use candles.

“People just need to be vigilant,” she said.

“We’re never having candles in the house again.”

The blaze caused $400,000 damage.

Meanwhile, an Aldinga Beach house was also extensively damaged by fire on Saturday.

Emergency services were called to a Butterworth Rd property just before 11am in response to reports of a blaze.

No one was home at the time of the incident but an occupant returned to find the house ablaze.

Firefighters extinguished the fire but not before it caused $200,000 damage.

Fire Cause Investigators are looking into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Photos: AAP/Emma Brasier.

A fireman inside the burned out house. AAP/Emma Brasier.