Architect who ‘died’ for five minutes in horror house fire reveals where he ‘went’ when his heart stopped
A holiday home boss and father-of-five who ‘died’ for five minutes when his heart stopped beating after a terrifying house fire sent him into cardiac arrest has become friends with the firefighter who brought him back to life.
Retired architect Steve Taylor, 64, and his wife, Jo, 53, who run the business based at their home in Upper Tysoe, Wawickshire, together, had sat down to dinner in January 14 with her 80-year-old parents when smoke poured through the ceiling light fittings and the fire alarms sounded.
Ushering everyone out, Steve – father to Jessica, 36, George 34, Ben, 22, Will, 12, and Bob, six – soon saw the side of the house and the roof were engulfed by flames, which he fought, valiantly, with fire extinguishers they kept on site.
But his heroism cost him dearly, as he went into cardiac arrest, saying: “I only had a 10 per cent chance of being revived after my heart stopped, so I feel incredibly grateful to still be here.
“My youngest hasn’t left my side since. My top priority now is spending time with my family.”
What started out as a pleasant family get together that evening soon turned into a terrifying drama.
Steve said: “We were eating dinner with Jo’s 80-year-old parents when smoke suddenly started pouring through the light fittings in the ceiling and the alarms went off.
“I got everybody out of the building and went back in to see where the smoke was coming from.”
He added: “At first, I thought it was an electrical fire, because the smoke was coming out of the lights, so I switched off the electrics but that did nothing.
“Then I went outside and saw that the side of the house was on fire.”
Springing into action, while they waited for the fire brigade, determined to do his best to stop the blaze from spreading to the six homes which were booked up by guests, Steve started trying to put it out.
He said: “Because we have the holiday homes on site, I have a shed with 10 fire extinguishers in, so I ran and grabbed two and took them into the house.”
He added: “I was sweating and my heart was pounding. Jo rang for a fire engine while I tackled the flames, running in with two extinguishers and running back out for more when they ran out.
“I was bashing holes into the ceiling upstairs and spraying with the fire extinguisher into the rafters to try to put the fire out.
“But it was everywhere. There were effectively 20 fires happening at once within the house and I couldn’t put them out quick enough.
“It took eight minutes for firefighters to arrive which felt like an eternity. I had just used up the last extinguisher when they got here. ”
Six fire engines turned up to take over from Steve and put out the flames.
He said: “Towards the end, the fire was red hot and I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face for the smoke. I was breathless and sweating and I remember sitting down on the patio completely knackered. My heart was going like a train engine and not slowing down.
“I’d had a heart attack 10 years ago, so I know what it feels like.
