©InfoAfter nine years as a fire and emergency support service (FESS) volunteer, John Arnott thought he’d seen it all – until he got called out to three house fires in a single day.
On 21 October, John and his colleagues were first called out at 3pm to a house in North Creake, where they helped a couple with their insurance claim.
At 5pm, John got a second call to help a very upset elderly couple in Diss. He sorted their complicated insurance arrangements, retrieved some valuables from the fire-damaged home and sensitively broke the sad news that one of their pet cats had died in the blaze.
‘Shocked and exhausted’
He recalled: “They had pretty complicated insurance arrangements, so we spent a lot of time contacting the companies and helping make their claim. The whole house was badly smoke-damaged, but we liaised with the fire service and – once it was safe to go into the house – went in to retrieve valuable possessions.
There was more bad news to come. “Sadly one of their pet cats had died in the fire, so I waited for the right moment to break the news. The couple were sad, a bit shocked and exhausted – but they were very grateful for our support, which hopefully helped as they started dealing with the aftermath of the fire.”
Recovered valuables
John finally arrived home at 11pm – and was just getting ready for bed when a third call came in. He raced to Sprowston, where he found yet another traumatised couple being treated by the ambulance service for smoke inhalation.
John said: “They were pretty distraught, so we gave them some spare clothing and a hot drink, and reassured them we would help as much as we could. We got some medication for the woman, recovered some valuables from the house and gave them some Red Cross shop vouchers.
John added: ““We appeared just at the right time, because without us they’d have been left to fend for themselves in quite a shocking and disorientating situation.” Eventually, the exhausted volunteer got home just before two in the morning. His verdict afterwards? “I was a bit tired, but glad to have had so many opportunities to help.”
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