FIRE RESCUE HEROES
MAN, 98, SAVED:
AN ELDERLY man is lucky to be alive after a pair of good Samaritans rescued him from a burning house at Hamlyn Heights.
Two line workers from Powercor have been praised for pulling the 98-year-old man to safety after noticing smoke billowing from the Robb Ave property about 10pm on Tuesday.
Mitch Cuthill, 32, and Ben Neville, 35, were working on a power pole about 200 metres away, when they saw smoke and flames coming from the house.
“It looked like a backyard fire,” Mr Neville said. “It was probably metre-high flames and any other day you would think someone is just having a barbecue.
“But it was dead quiet and you couldn’t hear anyone.”
Mr Cuthill said they frantically knocked on the doors and windows of the house before rushing to neighbours in desperation to find out if anybody was home.
At first, one neighbour told the pair the elderly man was away in respite care.
But then another claimed the man often struggled to wake up.
“We panicked and looked at each other,” Mr Cuthill said.
“We weren’t sure if anyone was in there — when we found out someone was in there, something took over.”
The pair said the man woke up when they smashed a window.
The man then emerged from the smoke, reaching for the burning hot door handle before collapsing in front of the workers.
“He was just soaked in sweat and you could feel the heat coming from the joint, we grabbed him and carried him over the road,” Mr Neville said.
“His hands were all burnt — it was pretty crazy. He just said: ‘my house, my house’.”
By 10.40pm, CFA crews had contained the blaze which had engulfed the kitchen at the rear of the property.
The man had minor burns and was suffering from smoke inhalation. He was taken to Geelong hospital in a stable condition.
A CFA spokesman confirmed the house did not have a working smoke alarm.
The blaze comes after it was revealed there were no working smoke alarms in four house fires that killed five people in the region last year.
The good Samaritans have been dubbed “heroes” by the community.
Field leader at Powercor’s Geelong depot Simon Cassar said the pair were fantastic “lineys” and the next leaders coming through the business.
“We are extremely proud of what they have done and it’s fantastic to have them as part of Powercor and our work crew in Geelong,” he said.
Fire crews were investigating the cause of the blaze, but it was not considered as suspicious.
The family of the man did not wish to comment, but were grateful for the help of the workers who saved his life.
WE WEREN’T SURE IF ANYONE WAS IN THERE — WHEN WE FOUND OUT SOMEONE WAS IN THERE, SOMETHING TOOK OVER. RESCUER MITCH CUTHILL