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Heroic actions save man, 63, from flat blaze

From the Guardian Series, first published Friday 15th Oct 2004.

A PENSIONER was dragged semi-conscious from a flat fire by his neighbours on Friday.

Warrington firefighters say residents of Crowe Avenue, Longford, saved the life of 63-year-old Arthur Chester.

Leading firefighter John Boswell, of Warrington Fire Station, said: "Had they not reacted so promptly, we could have been removing a body from the flat instead of giving oxygen to a casualty."

Mr Chester said: "I am really grateful for what they did."

The blaze broke out in the first floor property at around 1.30pm after Mr Chester left the cooker on and then fell asleep.

Kate O'Neill and Chantel Woodward, who also live in Crowe Avenue, took action after they started to smell burning.

Kate said: "It smelt of burning bacon and it was getting stronger and stronger.

"Then we saw black smoke coming out of the roof."

The women called the fire service and alerted David Oakes, who lives in the ground floor flat, to the fire.

He, in turn, dragged Mr Chester down the stairs and outside to safety.

Fire crews from Warrington, Stockton Heath and Widnes stations attended the blaze.

Leading firefighter Boswell said: "We would like to thank all the neighbours for their efforts in saving the life of a friend and neighbour."

He added that Mr Chester's smoke detectors were faulty and urged all Warrington residents to have a free home fire safety check and to test their smoke alarms regularly.

Contact Warrington Fire Station's community safety department on 639129, Birchwood Fire Station on 818379 or Stockton Heath Fire Station on 269102 for more details.

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