Elderly man dies after Dover Heights house fire
An elderly eastern suburbs man has died following his dramatic rescue from a house fire by an off-duty firefighter.
NSW
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An elderly eastern suburbs man has died in hospital after being rescued from a house fire by an off-duty firefighter.
Emergency services were called to a two-storey red brick home on Blake St, Dover Heights about 9.30 this morning after multiple triple-0 calls.
Before the crews could arrive a firefighter, who lived nearby, had already managed to break in to the second floor of the building and rescue a 90-year-old man.
He was treated by paramedics before being taken to St Vincent’s Hospital at 10.40 in critical condition but died a short time later.
The off-duty officer from Bondi Fire Station, who wished to remain anonymous, said it was lucky he was out the front of his home at the time of the blaze.
“I was out working on my car,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
“I know (the 90-year-old-man) personally. I don’t know how or where the fire started, though.”
A NSW Fire and Rescue Spokesman said multiple trucks arrived to find the home engulfed in flames.
“There were large volumes of flames and smoke on the second storey and roof space,” he said.
“An off-duty officer had already made attempts to search the home. With one man located and removed from the building and handed to an ambulance.”
The red brick house sustained extensive damage and neighbouring homes had to be evacuated.
Police have closed Blake St and nearby Napier St.
The cause of the fire is not yet known.