Vic: Accidental heroes save woman from burning flat

AAP General News (Australia)
08-17-2000
Vic: Accidental heroes save woman from burning flat

By Nick Lenaghan

MELBOURNE, Aug 17 AAP - A passing jogger braved thick smoke and intense heat to rescue
an elderly woman overnight after she could not open a deadlock to her burning home.

But 31-year-old James Anderson was only the first in a series of accidental heroes
brought together by community spirit and coincidence.

Mr Anderson, a project manager for a building company, was jogging through leafy North
Carlton around 7.30pm (AEST) when he noticed smoke coming out of a housing commission
unit.

As he was joined by another jogger at the front of the ground-floor unit, they realised
a 76-year-old woman was trapped in the blazing flat.

"The front door was deadlocked. There was an elderly lady inside whom we were communicating
with but she was very faint," Mr Anderson said.

"We spoke to her for a while, told her to get down, cover up and all that until we
could get her out and then we lost contact with her."

Mr Anderson broke the front windows but, dressed only in his running gear, he was beaten
back by the heat.

"I got in - threw one or two legs in but my legs were bare and starting to burn a bit
so I jumped back out," he said.

As the fire took hold, Dom Cambareri drove past in his tow truck.

Mr Anderson and other passersby, who had gathered at the scene, stopped the tow truck
and asked for help.

"We were trying to get him to shine his lights in but it was decided that he turn round
and put his winch on the front door. He pulled the door off the frame and we went in and
got her out," Mr Anderson said.

Although the elderly woman had collapsed near the door, Mr Anderson could see very
little as he battled smoke and heat to get to her.

"I've never felt heat like it - it was frightening to me," he said.

"The smoke was thick and black and it was amazing just how there was no sight at all,
just like running blind."

A doctor who had joined the rescue effort helped resuscitate the unconscious woman
after Mr Anderson had brought her out. The fire brigade then arrived to douse the blaze.

Five fire trucks and 17 firefighters took around 20 minutes to subdue the blaze.

Acting Inspector Bryan McCarthy said it was likely that the fire brigade would nominate
Mr Anderson for a bravery award for his efforts in struggling through the heat with only
his jogging gear on.

"The guy that performed the rescue was pretty brave," Acting Insp McCarthy said.

He warned against the danger of people deadlocking themselves inside their homes and
said that it was important to have a "home escape plan" in case of emergency.

The elderly woman was in a satisfactory condition today in St Vincent's Hospital and
would remain under observation for at least a day, a hospital spokesman said.

AAP nl/jlw/mg/bwln

KEYWORD: RESCUE NIGHTLEAD

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