Praise for fire hero neighbours in Puddletown (From Dorset Echo)
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Praise for fire hero neighbours in Puddletown
11:00am Saturday 1st September 2012 in Local News
HEROES: Pam Eggleton with neighbours Sue Brown, Steve Brown, Caitlin Brown, Dennis Rowland, Sophie Brown and Helen Rowland who came to her aid when the camping stove she was using during a power cut, caught fire because of a leaking gas pipe
AN ELDERLY couple have praised their ‘heroic’ neighbours after a camping stove caught fire in their kitchen.
Sue and Steve Brown, and Dennis Rowland, of Butt Close, Puddletown , attempted to put out the fire, and carried the stove outside on a table when they could not douse the flames.
Their neighbours Carl Legg, 74, and Pam Eggleton, 79, had lit the camping stove to make a cup of tea after they woke to find they had no electricity.
Mr Legg said: “They were absolute heroes. Pam called Sue when the flames started, and they tried to put it out.
“When they couldn’t, they carried it outside. I was worried about them, because there were so many flames.”
Mrs Brown said her daughters Caitlin, nine, and Sophie, six, also played their part in the recuse on Wednesday morning. She said: “I went round when I heard Pam calling, and we tried to put it out. I wasn’t sure if it was going to explode or not, so my first thought was to get the girls out of the way. I sent them to our other neighbours to get help.”
The youngsters managed to wake their neighbours by banging and shouting. Mr Rowland went to help put out the fire, while his wife Helen called the emergency services.
The group tried to put out the flames using wet tea towels and a fire blanket, but this was unsuccessful.
Mrs Brown added: “We knew we couldn’t move the gentleman, because he’s quite infirm, so it seemed the next best thing was to move the stove outside.
“The flames were quite big, so we were worried the curtains would catch fire.”
Once the stove, with the gas canister still attached, was outside, the neighbours managed to put the flames out by keeping a constant stream of water on it.
They believe the fire was caused by a small hole in the tube attaching the stove to the gas.
No one was badly injured in the fire, although Mr Brown suffered slight burns to his arms.
Mrs Brown said: “We just acted on autopilot.
“It’s not until afterwards that you think how much damage it could have done.”
Mr Rowland said: “There was minimal damage to the house, and to the people, and that is down to Sue and Steve. It was a really brave thing to do.”
