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Asher Rospigliosi, who lives in an adjoining cottage, had heard the smoke alarm in his neighbour’s house and immediately rushed to help. Putting a ladder against the upstairs bedroom window next door, he managed to help the terrified woman to safety in the nick of time.
Emergency support
Five volunteers, working in two shifts, stayed at the scene throughout the night and well into the next day – for more than 15 hours in total. They provided practical help and support to the neighbours, both of whom were understandably quite shaken by the sudden fire.
Paul Truluck, FESS co-ordinator, said: "We were there to give emotional support to the neighbours who had been forced to leave their homes. Obviously, it was all quite distressing so we kept talking to them and helping to keep them calm.”
‘Fantastic’ Red Cross
After saving his neighbour, Asher found that his own home had also been badly damaged by the fire and that he too had been made homeless by the incident. He said: “The Red Cross has been fantastic – they have been ringing round to see if the council can provide some accommodation.”
As the emergency services laboured to clean up the scene, the volunteers also provided refreshments for the firefighters and police officers who were on site during the day. Paul added: “We handed out drinks and biscuits to the emergency services who had been working non-stop round the clock. They thanked us a lot for the support that we gave."
See BBC news coverage of the fire incident
More about the fire and emergency service
Learn more about first aid
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