A teenage girl may have had her life saved thanks to the expert advice from a fire control operator.

Last Wednesday firefighters rushed to Black Bull Road in Folkestone to reports of a fire in a three-storey house.

The trapped teenager was stuck in her bedroom as the kitchen downstairs in her home went up in flames. Her mum was out at the time walking the family’s dog.

Fire control operator Hannah Park, who only started in the job on June 4, took the emergency call.

She said: “I reassured the girl that firefighters were on their way and advised her to stay in the bedroom and to keep the door closed.

“I told her to seal the door by placing blankets and clothing along the bottom of it to help keep the smoke out, to open the window and to stay as close to it as possible.

“About halfway through the call, she told me that the room had started to fill with smoke, so I advised her of the easiest and safest way of breaking one of the window panes to give her more fresh air.”

After this, Hannah stayed on the line and kept the girl talking until crews arrived.

She added: “I asked her about her room and about her dog, and basically tried to keep her calm. When crews got to the property, I told her to wave and call out of the window to them.”

Crews entered the house and were able to find the girl straight away. After clearing the smoke away, they lead her to safety.

She was given first aid and oxygen by fire crews and was taken to hospital suffering from the effects of breathing in smoke.