A similar story was told by Cllr and Mrs G.P. Rhodes, who live next door to Mrs Pease.  "We were just preparing for bed," Mr Rhodes told "The Express", "when we heard a planeand I remarked 'It is terribly low' Then there was a tremendous crash and when I looked out of the window, I saw flames round three sides of  my house.  When I went to the door I saw flames all over the place and they were licking at my door from part of the wreckage outside Mr Pease's house."  Mr and Mrs Rhodes described the terrifying experience of Mr and Mrs Pease who were in bed at the time.  They had to jump out of the window and scramble across the burning wreckage of part of the aeroplane to reach safety. Mr Rhodes himself tried to reach Mrs Pease from his yard but was unable to do so and eventually she was pulled across the wreckage and over a wall by Mr L. Isle.  Mr and Mrs Rhodes escaped by another door and over a wall.
          Mr and Mrs H Pickering, who lived in the house next to Mr Wardell's, owed their escape from injury or possible death to the fact that Mrs Pickering had recently given birth to a baby and since then had been sleeping at the home of her mother, Mrs Hardcastle, in one of the cottages at the top of Chapel Hill. Mr Pickering, who is in the Navy, was home on leave and both were in Mrs Hardcastle's house at the time. They saw their own home demolished by fire and Mr Pickering carried his wife into a field for safety. 
          Another fortunate escape was that of  Mrs Mary McCone, who lives in the house next to the chapel and had given birth to a baby the same day.  The flames were prevented from spreading to her home, but she was naturally upset by the disaster.  The Wardell's, the Pickerings and the Peases and the three Dean girls lost all their possessions, including clothes and furniture as well as their homes.  Cllr Rhodes' house was saved from the fire, he believes, because of an unusually thick inner wall which divides it from that of the Peases.  It escaped with badly blistered paintwork on the door, but as a safety measure all their furniture including a heavy piano, was lifted over a wall and taken into a field by soldiers and other helpers, with the aid of torches.

THE FIRE SERVICE CALLED
          The National Fire Service at Pontefract received a call or help at about 12.15 am and arrived quickly with two machines. the officer in charge found that more help was needed and sent for four more machines, a foam tender and a hose carrier, which came from various districts and were on the scene within twenty minutes.  the wrecked aeroplane, the four houses and the chapel were such a mass of flames that the firemen could only concentrate on preventing the fire from spreading and that they achieved.  The officer in charge anticipated that the static water supplies in the immediate viscinity would be insufficient and brought in a relay supply from the fish pond at Stapleton Park, which helped to meet all requirements.  All the fires were out shortly before dawn, but it was 11.00am on Sunday before the firemen were able to leave after eleven hours of continuous duty.  For eight hours they worked in conjunction with the Rescue Service and the last body, that of one of the airmen, was recovered about ten hours