7:12pm Monday 23rd November 2009
A FATHER-OF-TWO crawled through acrid smoke to rescue a pensioner from her burning Oxford home.
Firefighters praised engineering manager Ben Vause, 42, for saving the life of a 70-year-old woman in a fire in Westminster Way, Botley, yesterday.
Mr Vause, of Kennington, was driving past the house at 2pm when he spotted smoke coming out of the front door of the semi.
He entered the burning house by forcing open the front door.
He said: “I couldn’t see anything but thick, horrible black smoke. I called out to see if anyone was in and I heard a little ‘yes’ in reply.
“I crawled forward and eventually spotted a hand.
“I grabbed hold of it and literally pulled the elderly lady out through the door.
“She was coughing, hot, and covered in soot.”
The woman was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital with smoke inhalation, but was not seriously hurt.
Watch manager Steve Anderson, stationed at Rewley Road fire station, said although the house was equipped with smoke detectors, they were not working. He added: “He rescued her just in time. It was a severe fire.”
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