A ten-year-old Elgin boy has been hailed as a hero after leading his younger brother to safety when fire broke out at their home on Friday morning.
Tyler Harrison suffered burns and ended up with his arm in plaster after bravely plunging back into a bedroom to lead his eight-year-old brother Logan from danger.
Firefighters had been called to Barlink Road in the early hours of the morning after the alarm was raised by Tyler, who had alerted his mother to the blaze that had started in his bed. It is thought the fire had been caused by a faulty telephone charger.
The boys’ mother, Sarah Fegan, who has five children with her partner Vincent Harrison, said she was first aware of the fire when a smoke alarm went off at 1.30am – but it took a while for it to register with her.
“I thought I was dreaming,” Ms Fegan said, adding: “Tyler came running through and said ‘mum, my bed’s on fire’.
“Our priority was to get the kids out – I ran back through to my bedroom to get my partner up and got two of the boys, Ellis and Codi. While I was grabbing them Tyler went back into the bedroom that was on fire to get his brother Logan, who was on the top bunk.”
Meanwhile Mr Harrison managed to extinguish the blaze although it was still smouldering when the fire service arrived at the scene.
Manager at the Elgin fire station, Shaun Burns, said: “The fire was caused by an overheated mobile phone charger that had been left charging on the bed. It had overheated to such an extent that the bedding caught fire and caused burn injuries to the young boy in the room.
“The incident had the potential to be even more serious and we can’t stress enough how important it is to unplug mobile chargers before you go to bed.
“We would advise unplugging any such electrical item overnight and, even when charging phones or other devices during the day, don’t leave them on top of any kind of material or near inflammable surfaces.”
Tyler, a pupil at New Elgin primary school, underlined that advice by urging everyone of his age to “give your phone to a parent so that they can keep your phone safe.”