Hero postie’s quick-thinking postie saves home and pets from house fire in Hornsby
Firefighters say an observant and quick-thinking postman doing his rounds saved a house and the lives of four pets trapped inside in Sydney’s north on Tuesday as a fire took hold in the kitchen.
Hornsby
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A quick-thinking local postman has helped save the lives of four pets trapped inside a house going up in flames.
Postie Richard Pumpa was doing his round on Lodge St, Asquith, about 11.30am on Tuesday, when he noticed condensation on very dark windows and called triple-0, firefighters say.
“When we arrived the postie was there with a garden hose trying to put water on the roof tiles,” Fire and Rescue NSW Hornsby station officer Paul Baker said.
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“He didn’t stick around but went on his way to continue his round of deliveries … we don’t even have a name but I want to recognise the great work he did.
“The fact he recognised something was not right and acted on it saved the house and the animals, and that’s by no means an exaggeration.
“If the fire had been left for another 5-10 minutes longer, the house would have been lost,” Mr Baker said.
Two cats and two dogs were trapped inside.
Mr Baker said emergency crews had to break a window to get inside the house before quickly extinguishing the fire with minimal use of water.
It was then that they noticed one dog in need of oxygen therapy for smoke inhalation, before the other three pets were found in another room.
“That dog was in quite a bad way, appearing lethargic, vomiting and not breathing very well,” Mr Baker said.
The animals were all taken to Asquith Veterinary Hospital, which confirmed that the animals were all in a stable condition.
Mr Baker said the house was up a battle-axe driveway and there would have been no way people would have seen it from the street.
“We believe the fire was accidental due to the range hood filter,” Mr Baker said.
He reminded people to keep kitchen areas such as the range hood clear of grease build-up, regularly service appliances and make sure smoke alarms are always working.