We are praising the instinct and swift actions of two of our colleagues after they helped rescue an elderly man from a smoke-filled home in Crediton on Wednesday 11 February.
At around 12.30pm, Home Safety Technician Cassandra Darling, who is also an on-call firefighter at Crediton, and Home Safety and Partnership Officer Eleanor Tanner were visiting residents at Newcombe’s Housing near Jockey Hill, offering fire safety advice, when they heard an alarm sounding nearby.
Cassandra said: “I think it was my gut instinct or intuition, but I recognised it as a smoke alarm at a property in Lennard Road.
“I said to Eleanor, ‘that’s a smoke alarm sound’, so we rushed over. When we got there, we could smell smoke. We entered the property and helped the elderly man to safety from a smoke-filled room.”
Cassandra and Eleanor then contacted our fire control for assistance and stayed with him to provide care and reassurance.
Three appliances from Middlemoor and Danes Castle fire stations, attended the incident. We discovered that items left in a microwave had started to burn, filling the property with smoke. The microwave was removed, and the property was ventilated to clear the smoke.
Safety in the home
Cooking is the biggest cause of fires in Devon and Somerset. Most start when people get distracted, miss a timer, or use faulty appliances.
Our Danes Castle Watch Manager, Johan Ulvede, who was at the scene, highlighted the vital role of working smoke alarms and having a clear escape plan: “Fire safety in the home is extremely important. Think about your night-time routines – extinguish candles, unplug chargers, make sure cookers are off, and your home is safe. If something does happen, make sure you have a way out – keep a key handy or use a twist lock so you can exit quickly.
“Our message is simple: Get out of the property, call 999 and stay out. Smoke detectors are especially important for vulnerable people and can give you the early warning that saves lives.”
Working smoke alarms and early action can prevent a fire from becoming far more serious. We recommend having a smoke alarm on every level of your property and testing them once a week.
We also offer home fire safety visits to support the most at-risk members of our communities.
Photo and original story by Alan Quick, Crediton Courier.
