Couple just a whisker from disaster owe lives to cat

A COUPLE would have died in the fire which ripped through their home if they had not been woken by their pet cat, a fire chief said today.

The cat saved its owners' lives by waking them up while a fire engulfed their East Lothian home in the early hours of Friday morning.

The blaze started in the kitchen of Ken Page and Jenny Ferguson's cottage in Athelstaneford, which firefighters believe had not been fitted with smoke alarms.

Their terrified cat made such a commotion that it woke them up and the pair, both 64, were able to call the fire brigade.

First on the scene was Haddington watch manager David Hopkinson, who said crews struggled to put the flames out as they had spread to the roof space. He said: "It was

close to a fatality. The pair are very lucky and certainly could have died if the cat had not woken them.

"The two of them are very fortunate to be alive. The lady was asleep in bed and I assume the man had fallen asleep in the sitting room."

Both Mr Page and Ms Ferguson were taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary suffering from smoke inhalation, with Mr Page also being treated for burns on his hands.

Yesterday afternoon Ms Ferguson returned to the home with a relative to clean up and collect her belongings before going to stay with relatives.

She said: "I'm fine. My partner is okay, he's still in the hospital but he'll be fine. It was the cat making noises that woke us up.

"The cat is fine – she's been here in the back garden all morning. There is a lot of smoke damage. We can't live here.

"It is just the kitchen really but we can't stay here just now."

She said she was too distressed to talk any more about what happened.

A neighbour – who did not want to be named – said: "I used to work beside Jenny but she left a few years ago to go work with Ken – he's a cook at the Conservative Club in Haddington.

"They have had a number of cats across the years. Seems like the cat saved their lives."

The village came to a standstill as emergency services arrived to deal with the fire.

Colin Armstrong, who lives behind the couple's house, said: "At around 1am all the fire engines were down there along with the ambulance and police.

"There was smoke everywhere. The fire brigade weren't away till about 4am.

"It really was quite atrocious.

"They have been in the village a few years. I don't really know her very well but Ken's a nice man."

A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service said: "Not everybody has a cat so finely tuned as this one clearly was, so a smoke detector is a must for every home.

"From what we understand, there wasn't any smoke detection device in the property.

"A smoke detector is the best way to give yourself a chance of an early warning.

"We are really glad that the couple only suffered minor injuries, but it is important to get across the message that smoke detectors save far more lives than cats do."