Lucky escape for have-a-go hero
FIRE BOSS WARNS PUBLIC NOT TO ENTER BURNING BUILDINGS
Reporter FIREFIGHTERS are warning people not to enter burning buildings after a have-a-go hero was taken to hospital.
County Durham Fire and Rescue Service was called out to the derelict Smiths Arms pub in Catchgate, near Stanley, County Durham, after a fire broke out early on Saturday evening.
Emergency services were told children had been seen running around and playing in the building earlier and it was feared they could have been trapped inside.
Members of the public risked their lives trying to enter the building and find the children who must have left the pub before the blaze took hold.
Andy Bruce, group manager at County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service, said: “When we got the report it was that there were children inside. Some members of the public had gone into the building when it was on fire to try and find them. One man was on the floor when we arrived suffering from the effects of smoke inhalation.”
The man was taken to the RVI in Newcastle and was held overnight but has since made a full recovery.
Mr Bruce said the situation could have been tragic. He said: “We would prefer people not to go in themselves. It seems like the heroic thing to do, trying to rescue people, but we have got the breathing apparatus and have had all the training to do it. Luckily in this case the man managed to get himself out of the building but he could have been overcome by the smoke, it could have been a fatality.”
It took firefighters around half an hour to fully search the building and confirm there were no children inside. For a time though, firefighters had feared the worst.
Mr Bruce said: “No one ever wants to see a fatality but with children it’s always so much worse. It was a very stressful and dangerous 30 minutes for our firefighters.”
Five fire engines were needed to tackle the fire at the three- storey pub on North Road which has sat empty for several years.