Bentley house fire: Firefighters work to stop house fire of one of their own spreading to bush
A volunteer firefighter saw his home destroyed by flames before joining his colleagues to stop the fire spreading to nearby forest.
Lismore
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A man whose home burned to the ground on the Northern Rivers showed enormous resilience when he helped firefighters contain the flames from escaping into surrounding bushland.
The house, on Boundary Creek Road at Bentley, was completely destroyed.
Rural Fire Service Northern Rivers Zone Group officer Chris Hartley said the man, who was a member of the Bentley Rural Fire Brigade, did not hesitate to join his colleagues after the alarm was raised about 1.30pm on Tuesday.
“I understand he was the only one home at the time,” she said.
“When his colleagues arrived he joined in and helped extinguish the flames on the outside of the house and prevent it from spreading into the surrounding bushland.”
It is understood the man, who is in his 60s, is currently staying with friends.
Ms Hartley said she attended the fire to provide support to the local brigade and the officer in charge, Bentley Captain Darren Riley
“There was a fairly rugged track up to the property which was a big boggy, a bit damp in patches,” she said.
“We had to do some drafting from the creek at the bottom of the hill and we ferried water up with two trucks while three stayed at the tops as there was not a lot of room on the track.”
NSW Rural Fire Service Superintendent Michael Brett said when crews arrived at the incident, the house was fully involved and had already burned to the ground.
“We have five fire trucks there, four from Rural Fire Service and one from Fire and Rescue NSW,” he said.
“Access was very difficult, there’s not a proper road, just a dirt track.”
The cause of the fire is not yet known.
It is understood that fire investigators will visit the scene on Wednesday.
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