Brooke Reid tragedy: ‘She was a timid wee darlin who was mad about Enid Blyton and animals’ say neighbours of Ballymena girl

Brooke Reid in the blaze at her home in Staffa Drive in the Ballykeel area on Wednesday evening. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Three fire appliances attended at 5.50pm on Wednesday. Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entered the house, extinguished the fire and recovered her body, they said.

Her grandfather, Billy McMaster (see video clip) said the family, including her mother Martha and father Geoff Reid, were devastated by the tragedy.

Neighbour Jean Alexander told the News Letter: “The wee darlin would not pass by without saying hello. She always stopped to speak to me and my dog, Jack. She was mad about animals.”

Another said: “She loved to read. She told me she loved the Enid Blyton books. The poor wee dear was one of the sweetest, wee timid darlings you have ever met. There wasn’t a bad bone in her body.

“She always sat with my sister-in-law at the Methodist church. If the minister was asking a question during the children’s address, she told her she had the answer but was too shy to speak out. So my sister-in-law spoke out the answer for her and Brook still got the sweet as a reward.”

A third neighbour said: “She followed her daddy’s football team Harryville Homers, she never missed a match. Her dad was a linesman for them. Every Saturday you would see her and her mum walking the two miles to watch them play.”

She added: “She was an early riser. You would always see her early in the morning going down to the shop for break or milk. And she was always early for school.”

As the News Letter was speaking to the neighbours a small white Spar van pulled up and a woman got out and handed over two heavy carrier bags bulging with groceries for the family.

Brooke’s school principal Ruth Wilson also paid tribute. “The staff and pupils of Dunclug College record deep sorrow on the tragic death of their beloved pupil, Brooke Reid, in Year 9, and send support and prayers to her grieving parents & family circle,” she said. “This is a very sad day for our school community.”

She said she was a joy to teach and lived life to the full. The youngster played the piano, sang and enjoyed sport.

The principal added: “In every way she was a credit to her family. “As a school we stand alongside them today in their grief.”

A neighbour who tried to rescue her from the fire in her home said he could not get any further than the landing in the house due to very thick black smoke.

Neighbours gathered adjacent to Brooke’s house today to express their grief among each other.

Brooke’s house was badly fire damaged. The windows of her bedroom were missing and the inside of the room was totally black. Mourners walked quietly past to leave flowers while police and forensic experts attended the scene.

One neighbour told the News Letter: “A whole crowd went into the house during the fire. They kicked the front door in. They got to the top of the stairs but could not get any further as the smoke was so thick. They could not see the door in front of them. The alarm was raised when a young girl walked past and saw Brooke at her bedroom window.”

Neighbour Pat McNally, a retired paramedic, was one of those who entered the house in a vain attempt to rescue Brooke, whom the neighbours described as “a wee darlin” and “a sweetheart”.

Mr McNally said that when he got to the top of the stairs he could see very little due to the smoke.

“I could not hear her at that time, just the smoke alarm. I don’t think I would have come back out [without her] if I had heard her. “But you could not see a foot in front of you, the smoke was that thick.”

He could not see any flames, he said.

“There were no lights on, maybe the power had shorted out.”

Like other neighbours who attempted to save her, he was now left doubting himself, the day afterwards, when there was nothing more they could have done.

“I keep thinking  - could I have done more?” he said.

He recalled that as he exited Brooke’s house a firefighter arrived and asked who was in the house, before rushing in.

One neighbour said Brooke tried to get her window open, but they thought it may have been childproofed. And she recounted how another neighbour who had happened upon the drama was also left feeling guilty the day after

“If only I had walked past a few minutes earlier,” he had said.

There were reports that would-be rescuers who made it further into the house had been unable to open Brooke’s bedroom door.

The Fire Service reported that another person was taken to hospital for treatment, understood to be the partner of Brooke’s mother, Martha.

Brooke Reid’s grandfather Billy McMaster says the family still don’t know what actually happened to her, as investigations are ongoing.

“But I can tell you that my family has lost my granddaughter,” he told the News Letter. “She had just turned twelve. She was a very loving granddaughter. She loved her friends and loved her life and her family circle, loved her church and loved her school and her Sunday school...She was just a very normal wee girl. So loving and affectionate.”

He said Brooke’s mother, Martha, had lost all her belongings due to the fire and that a fundraising page had been set up to help the family. She and Brooke’s father, Geoff Reid, were devastated, he said.

He added: “By the time he arrived the police and Fire Service were already there but it was too late. Brook was gone.

“We were told that she tried to make her way out through the bedroom window. But it was childproofed.”

He understands that neighbours could not break her window as it was double glazed and he also heard that would-be inital rescuers were unable to open her bedroom door.

They don’t know whether the heat caused the door to expand or whether there might have been furniture against it, as she liked to rearrange her room.

Independent Councillor Rodney Quigley said the whole of the Ballykeel Community are in shock after her death.

“It has been a tragic few months for the people of the area and there is just a numbness here.

“Brooke was a lovely young girl, 12 years of age, taken away so young,” he said. “It is so sad that this well known and respected family have lost their daughter at such a young age. It is just a terrible tragedy.”

He noted that her death came after the murders of Donald Fraser-Rennie nearby at Crebilly Road 24 hours earlier and Jason Martin a short distance away, in June.

Make a contribution to Brooke’s funeral costs and to cover her mother’s fire losses

Brooke Reid tragedy: ‘I tried to rescue her but the smoke was too thick - I keep thinking, could I have done more?’ says neighbour of Ballymena girl

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