Pensioner Saves Wife From Fire

26 February 2010, 05:52 | Updated: 26 February 2010, 06:07

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service has praised the actions of an elderly St Neots man, who saved his wife from a house fire.

Firefighters were called to the house in Ferrars Avenue on Saturday morning.

When crews arrived, the man had already acted to get his wife out of the house.

He was alerted to a fire by an upstairs smoke alarm.

On hearing the alarm, the man rushed upstairs to find a fire had started in the bedroom where his wife was sleeping.

The room was filled with toxic smoke, which made it difficult to breathe.

Despite his age, the man managed to lift his wife off the bed and carry her downstairs to safety.

Meanwhile, a neighbour had seen smoke coming from the bedroom window and dialled 999.

When the fire service and paramedics arrived, the couple was treated for breathing in smoke.

The fire started in a faulty electric heater.

Dave Thorpe, a firefighter at St Neots Fire Station, said: "This man should be incredibly proud of his heroic actions.

The fact that he was able to lift his wife downstairs to safety in such arduous conditions should be commended.

However, if it wasn't for a working smoke alarm in the property, he might not have realised that there was a fire until it was too late.

This is one of the many examples of smoke alarms savings lives."