Fire jolts neighbours into action

HEROES: Jenny Bell (left) and Bella raced to rescue a young mother and her baby after a fire broke out in an adjoining unit. PHOTOS/CHRISTINE MCKAY

A Dannevirke man feared for his life when a suspicious fire broke out in his James St home at 11pm on Thursday.

"The occupant was up at the time and was concerned he wasn't able to get out of the house when he first called the fire in. But when we arrived he was safe outside and didn't need any medical treatment," Peter Sinclair, Dannevirke Volunteer Fire Brigade chief, said.

A young mother and her baby asleep in the adjoining unit also had to flee their home after being woken by neighbours.

"I was in my kitchen turning down my boil-up when I heard a window break," neighbour Bella said. "I ran over to Jenny's [Jennifer Bell] and already the house next door was well ablaze. Jenny went to get the mum and baby out. I didn't want that poor girl getting burnt and it was terrible hearing the windows of next door exploding in the fire."

Jenny told the Dannevirke News the situation was scary.

"I could see the fire in the adjoining flat, but I couldn't wake up [the young woman]. So I kept on banging and banging and yelling out her name." she said. "I was going to go in the front door of her flat, but the fire was bursting out the front of next door and windows were exploding. It was scary, so I ran around the back and into the flat. [The woman] was in a deep sleep, but I woke her and told her to get out the back door. But she panicked and ran out the front instead. I grabbed her baby and a blanket to wrap her in."

Senior Constable Wayne Churchouse of the Dannevirke Police said the women were heroes.

Mr Sinclair said police had told him the fire was suspicious, with fire investigators on the job early yesterday morning. However, detective Brad Hall told the Dannevirke News investigations were continuing and he wasn't prepared to speculate on the cause of the fire.

"We're still speaking to witnesses," he said.

The Dannevirke Fire Brigade was at the scene for two and a half hours and were joined by the Norsewood Brigade.

"Norsewood had been called in because a person had been reported inside the house and if we're looking for someone in those circumstances it can be quite an extensive job," Mr Sinclair said.

The house suffered extensive damage to the front section, while the rest had heat and smoke damage.

"We had it under control pretty quickly, within 15 minutes, and the rest of the time was spent putting out hotspots," he said. "We couldn't put firefighters inside the unit because of the danger from concrete roof tiles, some of which had collapsed."

Mr Sinclair said the adjoining unit, where the mother and her baby were sleeping, wasn't affected by the fire. "The fire wall in between the two units did its job."

This is the second house fire in James St in the last 15 months. A home on the corner of James and Gregg Streets went up in flames in May last year. It had been empty since the sudden death of a 25-year-old woman in July a year earlier.

-Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Sergeant Shelley Ross on 06 213 9644. Information can be provided anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.