Warning every parent needs to hear as 9-year-old boy is forced to smash a window to escape a raging house fire after his mother left him home for just ’10 minutes’ to get frankfurts for dinner
- Boy, nine, ‘thought he was going to die’ in mansion fire
- He was home alone after refusing to go shopping with Mom
A nine-year-old boy who ‘thought he was going to die’ has an incredible escape from a raging fire after being trapped alone in a mansion.
Mum-of-two Chelsea Daubney left home in Penrith, Sydney’s west, around 6pm on Saturday night to get frankfurts for dinner.
But her son Christian refused to go with her, so she reluctantly left him home alone.
“I thought, he walks home from school all the time when he’s nine years old… I thought he’d only be home safely for 10 minutes. And I was wrong,” said a tearful but relieved Mrs. Daubney 9News.
On Sunday, when she looked over the wreckage of her home and said her mind was “going at 1,000 miles an hour” because she knew it could have been a lot worse.
Nine-year-old Christian (pictured) ‘thought he was going to die’ after being left alone in a western Sydney mansion that caught fire
She locked Christian up at home for his safety, but wWhile she was gone, he accidentally knocked a lit candle off a coffee table.
“He tried to put out (the fire) and it got really hot, so he tried to get out through the front door, but the front door was locked with the key so he couldn’t get out,” she said.
And he ended up having to smash the window and he was screaming for help. He thought he was going to die.’
A passerby heard Christian screaming and ran to his aid to get him to safety.
Mum of two Chelsea Daubney (pictured) left her son alone for 10 minutes to get frankfurts for dinner
Firefighters were able to prevent the fire from spreading to nearby homes, but the mansion was destroyed (pictured)
The fire department was called and a short time later saw the house engulfed in flames.
They were able to put out the fire and prevent it from spreading to nearby homes, but the mansion was destroyed.
“Within minutes, sometimes even less, a fire can spread from a small fire in a room to a fire that engulfs an entire house,” said Inspector Andrew Ticehurst of Fire and Rescue NSW.
As of Sunday night, the mansion was still too unsafe for the family to go inside to see if they could salvage anything.
Nine-year-old Christian, who was left home alone, survived the blaze after smashing a window on the (pictured) ground floor of the townhouse and escaping
But given the likely extent of the damage, Ms. Daubney thinks they’ve probably lost everything.
Fortunately, Christian recovers well at Nepean Hospital with only a cut on his foot and is spoiled with ice cream and toys.
Ms Daubney said she is now ‘taking each day as it comes and trying to rebuild a safer home for my children’.
Police said a child-at-risk report will be filed.