TWO firefighters were praised for their bravery last night after they pulled their colleague out of a burning building after the roof fell on him.The three, all from Clacton, were fighting the inferno at a home in The Boatyard, St Osyth, when the accident happened.
By Sharon Asplin
TWO firefighters were praised for their bravery last night after they pulled their colleague out of a burning building after the roof fell on him.
The three, all from Clacton, were fighting the inferno at a home in The Boatyard, St Osyth, when the accident happened.
The alarm had been raised at about 6.30pm when the occupants of the house and office – eight adults and a child - noticed smoke outside their windows while they were sitting down for dinner.
They managed to leave the building quickly and safely. Fire crews could see the smoke as they approached the village and by the time the two crews arrived from Clacton the roof of the property, measuring about 20 metres by eight metres, was well-alight.
Back up was called for from Brightlingsea and the firefighters finally managed to bring the flames under control by 7.45pm.
As the fire was concentrated in the roof, this is where the firefighting efforts were centred. It was during the course of this that one fireman, who has not been named, received slight injuries when part of the roof fell on him.
Last night, leading fireman Michael Warner said: "The fire was taking hold very quickly. Because it had started in the roof void the timbers had burnt away and the weight of the roof brought some of it down. The fireman was treated mainly for shock and was not burned. He was rescued by two other members of the crew.
"The only way to deal with this fire was to go into the building and these men did this at risk to themselves but thankfully none of them sustained serious injuries."
At the height of the blaze, the water authority was asked to increase the pressure of the water to tackle the flames. By the time it was under control, the whole of the roof was destroyed and half the remaining property gutted.
Relief crews spent the night at the scene, damping down the property and making sure it was safe.
An investigation into the cause of the blaze has been launched, but at this stage it is not thought to be suspicious.
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