Brave men help rescue woman, child from Cowandilla house fire
Two selfless men negotiated live power cables to help rescue a woman and her child from a burning house at Cowandilla.
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Two men braved live power cables to help a mother and her two-year-old daughter escape a house fire at Cowandilla.
The fire, which police said was suspicious, broke out in a front bedroom of the duplex on Neill St about 6am on Saturday.
A neighbour called triple-0 and 23 firefighters arrived quickly to contain the blaze.
Romeo Cavaiuolo, 26, was woken up by cracking noises and lights before spotting flames eminating from his neighbour’s home.
He woke his brother-in-law, Anthony Farinola, 43, and the pair rushed over to the house, running past burning power lines, which had fallen on the ground.
“I called her (the occupant’s) name and heard her scream out,” Mr Cavaiuolo said.
“Because the fire was in the front of the house, she couldn’t get out.
“We went around the back (through a driveway) and got her to pass the baby over the fence.”
Mr Cavaiuolo carried the toddler and handed her to another neighbour before running back to save the mother.
“She was panicking,” he said.
Mr Farinola said the intensity of the flames at the front of the house could be felt in the woman’s backyard.
“It was hot even when we were at the back,” he said.
“We asked (her) if there was anyone else, she said she’s got four cats inside.”
A Metropolitan Fire Service commander jumped the fence and, with the help of both men, assisted the mother over the 1.8m-tall fence.
“You do what you have to do … not many people help each other out now,” Mr Farinola said.
The young girl suffered smoke inhalation and was taken to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital for observation.
The fire, which spread to the roof space, took 45 minutes to extinguish but it destroyed the duplex, costing a total of $300,000 damage, which included the roof of the vacant home next door.
A dog in the backyard survived the blaze and was in the care of another neighbour while the cats could not be found.
Fire cause investigators attended the scene to determine if the fire was deliberately lit but at this stage the cause was undetermined.
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