Two home fires in Sydney
Published: 23rd October 2007
A retired firefighter and an off-duty police officer were praised for their actions during two separate home fires which occurred within 20 minutes of each other in different parts of Sydney this afternoon. Firefighters from St Andrews and Campbelltown were called to a house fire in Gladiator Street at Raby. An off-duty police officer who saw the fire tried to search the house for a teenage girl who is usually home at that time. He suffered burns and smoke inhalation in his attempts to locate the girl who thankfully was not home. In a separate incident the NSW Fire Brigades received a Triple Zero call from a young girl reporting a fire in a unit in West Street at Balgowlah. Firefighters from Manly, Dee Why and Mosman responded to the fire but in the meantime a retired firefighter, who was passing by, saw the fire and rescued a woman. The woman suffered burns and smoke inhalation, and the retired firefighter administered first aid until fire crews arrived. Both fires were quickly extinguished by the attending fire crews.