The Fire Officer was on scene to assess the damage at 9a Rosamund Street following a large blaze in March 2009. The flat's owner Peter Barlow had fallen into a drunken sleep and dropped a lit cigarette onto the living room carpet which had smouldered and subsequently started the fire.
Michelle Connor had returned from holiday in Ireland following the news of her employer's hospitalisation and was shocked to learn from the Fire Officer that Peter's five-year-old son Simon had also been rescued from the property at the time. Bystander Graeme Proctor - (who had been incarcerated at Larchfield Young Offenders Institute the previous year for arson) - angered the pair when he commented that he would have liked to have seen the fire at its fiercest for himself, making offhand remarks about forensics, the television series CSI and the fact that this time there was a happy ending. The Fire Officer explained to Michelle that the casualties were lucky to be alive - especially Simon as he had suffered major smoke inhalation.