Hero mum says she acted on 'impulse & adrenalin' after saving family of 7 from Northampton takeaway fire

A hero mother-of-two said she acted on ‘impulse and adrenalin’ after saving a family of seven from a fire at a takeaway burger house this week. Emergency services were alerted to the blaze at Delush Burger House in Gold Street, Northampton at around 10am on Tuesday (December 5) after receiving 999 calls that the three-storey building was on fire.

Smoke billowed out of the property which is home to a takeaway business on the ground floor and flats on the first and second floors. Seven people were rescued in total – along with a dog – according to people at the scene.

Following the incident, one eyewitness got in touch with NationalWorld's sister paper, the Northampton Chronicle and Echo, appealing for an unsung hero called Chelsea to be recognised for saving the family before any emergency services were on the scene.

After being tracked down, Chelsea has given her account of how her ‘mother’s instinct’ kicked in after she heard children screaming from the burning building.

The 30-year-old mum said: "I just finished at the gym and was going towards Gold Street and as I turned the corner I could hear children screaming. You could see the flames. I went in through a fire door and turned around and said to three men recording on their phones, ‘are any of you guys going to help me?’ and all four of them said ‘no, you’ll get carbon monoxide poisoning’.

"The door opened and a lot of smoke came billowing out. As I’ve ran in, it’s black and I couldn’t see anything. I put my torch on my phone on the stairs so I could find my way out. The kids have all come out of their rooms, there was five of them. I told them to cover their faces and follow me out down the stairs.

"We got out and I asked where their mum and dad are. They said, ‘sleeping’ and pointed at the flat. I thought, ‘oh God, I’ve got to go back in there’. So I did. I was scrambling around, I couldn’t see anything, it was pure black smoke. I went up and found them and told them to follow me.

"We were all in Rock Bottom taking shelter when the dad said ‘dog’. So me and the dad ran back in to get their dog and it came running out, a tiny little white dog in Christmas jumper. It was so cute.

Chelsea was left with black nostrils and coughing up black soot before collapsing in a nearby salon. She said: “We got taken into the salon and I collapsed on to the floor. I was salivating. I couldn’t breathe.”

Asked how she’s doing now, Chelsea said her health is fine but she is ‘emotionally overwhelmed’. She said: “I’m just a bit overwhelmed. I have two kids myself. Just hearing those kids scream, it was my point of call.

"100% my mother’s instinct kicked in. It was just adrenalin. I acted out of pure impulse. I didn’t think. It was just mother’s instinct and adrenalin. I’m just glad they’re all ok. I do want to find out where they are because their house has burned right before Christmas and I’d like to take them a few bits.”

An outpouring of praise for Chelsea’s heroic actions were posted underneath the Chronicle’s appeal story yesterday. Chelsea’s sister in law said: “She is such a special, beautiful woman both inside and out. She is the most kind and generous person I know and it didn’t surprise me that she put others before herself and just did what was right.”