Constable Alexander Campbell of Ingham Police climbs house to fight fire

Video has revealed the moment a rookie NQ cop activated his inner Spiderman to scale a home and douse a fire burning on the second-storey balcony.

Video footage has revealed the moment a rookie North Queensland police officer activated his inner Spiderman to climb a house to douse a fire burning on the second-storey balcony.

First-year Constable Alexander Campbell of Ingham Police said he was at the property making routine inquiries when he noticed the fire burning against the exterior of the two-storey property.

“As we were leaving I just happened to looked up on the balcony and saw that there was a big fire coming from the lounge chair that was up there,” he said.

“I just thought it was a much quicker option that of instead cutting in through the house I thought I may as well go on the outside and get up and try and extinguish it somehow.”

Constable Campbell’s body-cam footage reveals that just as he climbs over balcony, partner Senior Constable Steven Anquetil arrives with a small fire extinguisher, throwing the perfect pass to the storey above.

First-year Queensland Police Service Constable Alexander Campbell outside the Ingham Police Station, Hinchinbrook, on Tuesday. Picture: Cameron Bates

“The timing just worked so well, getting up there and I managed to catch it, I was thinking ‘don’t drop it,’ ‘don’t drop it’,” he said.

Asked exactly why he chose the alternative route to the seat of the fire, the former builder and star front-row forward of the Ingham Cutters Rugby Club said, “I thought I’d just give it a go”.

Constable Alexander Campbell of Ingham Police scaling the wall of a home to douse a fire to his right on a second-storey balcony. Picture: Supplied

“It was more like an inner-child, I just saw a challenge and thought ‘why not?’ and I’ll get up and just try and assist in any way possible because it was obviously going to take a lot longer to go through the house and up the stairs.”

Constable Alexander Campbell of Ingham Police uses an extinguisher to put out a burning plastic couch on the second storey of a home during a dramatic incident recently. Picture: Supplied

Constable Campbell said it was fortuitous that police were at the property at the time of the fire, which was spreading quickly with a woman still inside.

“I hate to think what would have happened if we didn’t actually get up there and we had left without seeing that fire.”

Constable Alexander Campbell of Ingham Police tosses a burning cushion from a burning rattan couch from the second storey of a home during a dramatic incident recently. Picture: Supplied

He said the unusual incident was just part of being a police officer, a job he loved.
“It has been great, obviously every day you don’t know what’s going to be thrown your way and that’s one of the best things about this job, you just don’t know what you are going to be walking into,” he said.

“You can be at one place doing something completely different and then things will just get quite dynamic from there.”

Constable Campbell, originally from Toowoomba, said he had no regrets transitioning from his former tradie role.

“It’s the best job I’ve ever had hands down, you are up here working with great people at Ingham Police Station and obviously the training I have received down at the Townsville Academy is first class, which has set me up for hopefully a life-long career until retirement.”

Originally published as Constable Alexander Campbell of Ingham Police climbs house to fight fire