A man who rescued his elderly neighbour from a house fire is urging older people to check their electrical equipment and test smoke alarms.
Dan Climo was working outside in Treknow, North Cornwall, when he smelled burning and saw smoke coming from his 87 year old neighbour Brian’s bungalow.
‘I knew I had to act quickly as I was sure he was inside,’ says Dan.
‘I desperately rushed over to the burning building, jumped over his wall and ran inside. I discovered Brian lying unconscious half way out of his bedroom, he had clearly tried to escape but was overcome by the amount of smoke in his room. His hands were badly burnt too.
‘I pulled him out to safety and was so relieved to see that, although he had inhaled a lot of smoke and passed out, he was ok in the end.’
The fire in Brian’s home had been caused by a faulty electric blanket, says the charity Electrical Safety First.
The consumer protection charity has launched its Electrical Fire Safety Week campaign, and says that older people living alone are particularly at risk.
Last year, 4,426 electrical fires occurred in the homes of those over the age of 65 living by themselves.
The charity is urging people to check in on their elderly neighbours and relatives, and carry out some basic spot checks that could save a life.
’It was an electric blanket that caused the fire in Brian’s house and there wasn’t a fire alarm in the building, so it was just lucky that I was around at the time,’ said Dan.
‘It serves as a real reminder to check up on older people who live alone, check that their appliances aren’t dangerous or looking a little worse for wear, and that they have an alarm fitted which could save their life.’