Workmen are heroes at fire

8:05am Thursday 3rd July 2008

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WORKMEN carrying out road repairs in Evesham were praised by fire service chiefs this week after they downed tools when a house went up in flames in front of them.

The contractors were resurfacing a nearby road when they saw smoke billowing out and flames engulfing the house in Deacle Place.

Around five of the men rushed over after frantic calls from neighbours who said there were children inside.

The quick thinking team grabbed a jet washer which was attached to a road sweeper that was working on the road and started tackling the blaze.

Simon Curtis, who works for Beaumont Traffic Management, said: "At first we thought one of the vans was on fire but then we realised it was the house so we got the road sweeper to bring his truck up as close as he could so we could try contain the fire. Without that, the whole house would have gone up.

"When I saw children's toys all over the lawn I acted. I am a parent too and that was my initial reaction, to get any children out."

Another workman dashed around the back of the house, kicked down the back door and started dousing the flames with water using a neighbour's hose pipe.

Keith Warder, who works for Ringway, a Worcestershire County Council contractor, added:"The windows blew up and everything just went bang. We were fighting the fire for about 20 minutes before the fire service arrived. We thought there were people inside."

Owner of the house Michelle Craze, aged 29, had left the house just 20 minutes before the fire started.

The single mother of two was shopping in the town when a neighbour told her the house was on fire.

She said: "It is a shock to say the least. I thought they had the wrong house when they told me.

"I am very grateful to the men. It could have been a lot worse. I could have lost a lot more if it was not for them so I thank them all."

She was later termporarily re-housed by Rooftop Housing Association which owns the Deacle Place property.

Fire service spokesman Alec Mackie said: "Their quick reactions undoubtedly helped prevent the fire spreading further than it did."

He said the fire was believed to have resulted from an electrical fault in a fridge-freezer stored in a lean-to at the back of the house. The kitchen was gutted and the remainder of the ground floor severely smoke-damaged.