WINDOW CLEANER’S FIRE RESCUE
Award for hero who saved woman
A HEROIC window cleaner who saved an elderly woman from a fire has been given an award for his bravery.
Gareth Salmon, 39, from Marlborough Avenue in Ruislip, was cleaning windows of flats in Chiswick when he spotted smoke coming from one of the appartments and was told an elderly woman was stuck inside.
Father-of-two Gareth said: “I kicked the front door down and got through all the smoke.
“I had to crawl along the floor for so far, but I wasn’t able to breathe and I couldn’t reach her.”
An explosion blew Gareth out of the door, but undetered he reentered the property and saved the woman who was lying in the hallway.
“She was burnt but I managed to pick her up and get myself out through the kitchen and on to the balcony and get her out and about a minute after that it exploded, so there was a big fireball out the window,” said Gareth.
This month Gareth was rewarded for the dramatic rescue, which took place on New Years Eve of 2013/14, and ended with the elderly lady being airlifted to hospital.
He scooped the Adult Hero trophy at the Spirit of Fire Awards 2015, which took place at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel on October 2.
The annual awards ceremony honours firefighters and members of the public for their acts of astonishing courage.
Gareth said: “You go there and the room is full of firefighters who do it full time for a living, and you think really, they should be getting all the honour.”