Hero helps to save man from house fire

QUICK THINKING ACTION PRAISED

- SARAH LUMLEY

A QUICK-thinking hero has been told his actions "saved a man's life" after a faulty tumble dryer caused a fire to break out at a house in Plymouth.

Josh Walton, 31, was on his way to work on Thursday morning, May 16, when he rounded a corner onto Whitsoncross Lane, in Tamerton Foliot, and saw plumes of smoke billowing from a house, and a woman standing on the street calling up to a man indoors.

Jumping into action, Josh first tried to get inside the house and climb the stairs to where the man was, before realising the smoke was too thick. So he quickly asked a neighbour to bring a ladder, before clambering up to cut open an upper window, allowing the man inside to breathe.

And when fire crews from Camels Head and Crownhill arrived shortly afterwards, they told Josh his rescue attempts "saved the man's life", allowing them to get into the property sooner and clear the smoke.