Dad’s thank you to heroic firefighters

Paul Dosset, 42, from Lytham, handed over a cheque for more than £1,600 to firefighters at Lytham Fire Station on Tuesday.

In January 2012, four of Mr Dosset’s family, nineteen-year-old Reece Smith, four-year-old twins Holly and Ella Smith and Jordan Smith, two, died from smoke inhalation at their home on Lytham Road in Freckleton.

Mr Dosset, a gardener, said he hoped the cash could go towards buying smoke alarms and training children about the dangers of fire.

He added: “I decided to face my fears as I’m scared of heights and flying.

“I wanted to jump from 11,000ft to raise money for the fire service who were all amazing on the night.

“Thanks must go to Stephen Beverley at Windmill Financial Services who sponsored me for the full cost of the jump.

“If the money raised can go to getting smoke alarms which the fire service fit for free, or for firemen to go to schools to make children aware of the dangers of fire, then it will go towards stopping another family going through such pain.”

Mr Dosset’s skydive is not the first time he has raised money for Lancashire Fire and Rescue.

In November 2012 he produced 1,200 wristbands as a way of raising money for the firefighters who bravely tackled the blaze, selling the items in pubs and schools across the Fylde coast.

Reece, Holly, Ella and Jordan were killed after a fire was started in the bedroom of the property by Dyson Allen.

All four siblings died from the effects of smoke inhalation, with Reece succumbing to the smoke after going back into the fire to try and save his brother and sisters.

Allen was convicted of manslaughter and jailed for life in September 2013.

A Lancashire Fire and Rescue spokesman said: “In contemporary news reports and at anniversaries of the tragedy since, the grief-stricken family have frequently expressed their gratitude to the emergency services for doing their utmost to save the children that night and indeed, for seeing justice done in bringing the perpetrator to court.”