The founder of an international charity brought the “most burned girl in the world to survive” to Farnham as part of her ongoing bid to promote fire prevention.

Firefighters had a poignant moment last week as Red Watch members met Bronwen Jones and her adopted daughter, Dorah, at the Guildford Road station.

Bronwen is the founder of Children of Fire, a charity based in South Africa and the UK which supports kids who are severely burned.

Dorah, was one such victim as she suffered horrendous burns in a squatter camp fire in her homeland when she was around six months old.

Bronwen, who lives in Castletown in the far north of Scotland, based herself in Farnham while visiting London to meet its Fire Commissioner.

But wherever she goes, there’s always an opportunity to deliver an important message: fire is always a risk which should be taken seriously.

“We always try and raise a little bit of awareness,” said Bronwen, adding: “Dorah can’t speak clearly but if she could, she could tell you a lot about fire safety.

“It’s about being prepared, having escape routes, taking precautions and having a plan. After all, fire doesn’t pick between rich or poor people.

“And we know you’ve got a major problem with wildfires around here. People really ought to stop dropping cigarettes which aren’t fully extinguished, for starters.”

Bronwen grew up in Kent and studied in Newcastle before travelling to South Africa in 1991, publishing a dual language story book in English and Zulu a few years later.

Farnham firefighters Bronwen Jones
Children of Fire founder, Bronwen Jones, Dorah and Morag with some members of the Farnham Red Watch team. (Bronwen Jones)

But he she also saw the dark side of the country, and found Dorah in hospital after getting involved in a family caught up in a racist attack.

Bronwen said: “She was turned away from three hospitals because they thought she was going to die.

“She was admitted to hospital to die but confounded them all by surviving, so I started visiting her. At one stage the doctors said they were going to remove her eye to save money on dressing, and I told them they couldn’t.

“To cut a long story short they handed the girl to me and said ‘if you can do better, then here you are’.”

What followed was life-affirming: A charity account was set up within hours with the help of her old bank manager in Canterbury, while more than 2,000 people wrote to her after she penned a letter to The Times looking for a doctor.

“We brought Dorah to Britain where she’s had 45 different operations – she’s the most burned girl in the world to survive,” said Bronwen, adding: “Her story and how she has survived is just incredible.”

“But it also shows what fire can do. So I’ll do what I can to make people take the risk of fire more seriously, and to make them look differently at someone.

“Get a smoke alarm, keep the batteries charged and have a first aid box, too. Have a fire blanket, too. You can never do enough.”