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VIDEO: Grieving Claire's backing for smoke alarm test campaign

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A mother who lost her fiancé in a ferocious flat fire has backed a campaign aimed at encouraging people to check their smoke alarms when they change the time on their clocks.

Claire Neale's partner, Darren Watson, was killed when a blaze broke out in their home in Victoria Street, Loughborough, in January.

Claire's daughter, 11-year-old Tegan-Louise Britt, managed to raise the alarm and dragged out her cousin and her mother, but could not wake Mr Watson.

Now, Claire and Tegan are backing the Fire Kills Campaign, which urges people to get into the habit of checking their smoke detectors whenever they put their clocks forward or back.

At 1am tomorrow, UK clocks will change to British summer time and go forward one hour.

Claire, 44, said: "It's so important people check their smoke alarms. It could be the difference between life and death.

"Ours weren't working when Darren died, but I can't think about whether it would have saved his life or not – it's too hard. The fire was so ferocious and we had so little time."

Tegan, who was 10 at the time, rescued a six-year-old cousin and ran back in for her mother, but could not wake Darren, 39.

He was pulled out by firefighters and taken to the Leicester Royal Infirmary's intensive care unit, where he died soon afterwards.

"Tegan's okay, but she still has bad days – although she's stopped having nightmares now," said Claire. "I'm so-so. I had a few weeks off work after the fire, but people still don't know what to say to me and I still think about him every day.

"We check our smoke alarms all the time now.

"I can't urge other people enough to do the same."

The fire service has released a hard-hitting video on YouTube, in which a young boy explores the burnt-out shell of his former home. He asks viewers to make a promise to check their alarms whenever they change their clocks.

Rob Taylor, community safety watch manager for Leicestershire, said home owners were four times as likely to die if they didn't have a working smoke detector. He is asking people to add the check to their list of household tasks.

He said: "A working smoke alarm is a proven life-saver and is absolutely essential to keep you and your family safe. The sad fact is that only half of all householders who own a smoke alarm say they test it on a regular basis.

"Last year, there were 30,709 accidental fires in the home across the country. Don't take the chance on your family's life. Promise to test your alarms this weekend, and let's make it a household habit."

VIDEO: Grieving Claire's backing for smoke alarm test campaign


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