Two policemen save resident from appartment blaze

Emergency services received a call just before 5.40am about a fire in a two-storey apartment in Nelson. Photo / Supplied

Two policemen who saved a man from a burning flat are being hailed as lifesavers.
One of the rescuers required hospital treatment for smoke inhalation.

Emergency services received a call just before 5.40am about a fire in a two-storey apartment in Nelson.

Police arrived first at the Atawhai Drive unit, which was part of a block of up to four, and two constables went in and pulled a man from an upstairs building.

Once he was out, uninjured, the officers return to the building as they was a suggestion a second person might have been inside. These worries proved unfounded.

One of policemen was taken to hospital, suffering from smoke inhalation.

The fire was brought under control by 6.10. It started in the kitchen and the unit was moderately damaged, fire spokesman Andrew Norris said.

A third police officer at the scene entered the unit with a fire extinguisher in an attempt to quell the blaze before firefighters arrived.

Senior Sergeant John Price praised the officers' quick actions.

"The officers who entered the burning house did so at some personal risk and their brave actions saved the life of another person."

Mr Price said the fire was being treated as suspicious.