Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said it used a ladder to get into the property in Radford Park Drive, Plymstock, Devon. The woman was then released from the understairs cupboard and reunited with her child after the 15-minute ordeal on Friday.
A fire spokesman said: "A fire appliance was mobilised from Plymstock fire station and, on arrival, confirmed there was an adult locked in the understairs cupboard as well as a one-year-old child locked in the property.
"Crews used small tools and a triple extension ladder to gain access and release the adult from the cupboard as well as reunite the one-year-old with its mother."
2 comments:
For us Yanks, I think "cupboard" here means "closet." To us, a "cupboard" is most often a raised cabinet in which to store cups, plates, other flatware.
Evidently this was a close with a turn handle only on the outside of the door.
Now if it had been a guy, or a lady with a purse/wallet on her, he or she could have escaped using a credit card to wedge through the door-latching bolt.
Lurker111
Lurker,
Yes, it is "closet" in the US. Also, British doors in private homes nearly always have handles on both sides of internal doors. It's rare for an internal door not to have a handle on both sides, unless the householder has decided to take one side off the spindle, usually for pet or child security.
On top of which, I'm not sure how your doors lock, but I don't think quite the same way. It might sound odd to you, but given what you said I feel I should point out that bolt and lock and latch are all different, here anyway. You can open a latch with a credit card, and a bolt if it's the right kind, but not a standard lock. The internal doors in my own apartment here in England can't be opened that way either...
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