Postie rescues woman from kitchen fire

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news ... _fire.html

Published: 29 February, 2008

A MODEST Inverness postman rescued an elderly woman from a kitchen fire this week after he heard her smoke alarm.

Two appliances from Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service went to the fire in Birnie Terrace on Wednesday to find the postie had brought the woman outside her flat.

Fire service spokesman John Donaldson said the postman had heard the woman's smoke detector, looked in and saw that the house was full of smoke.

"He led her to safety and, from our point of view, did the right thing, but we would always caution anyone against putting themselves at risk," he said.

"He did prevent a potentially dangerous situation getting any worse."

Yesterday neither the postie nor the woman wanted to speak about the incident. The woman did not need hospital treatment but was checked by paramedics at the scene.

There was minor damage to the flat's kitchen.

A Royal Mail spokeswoman confirmed the postman had assisted. "His actions demonstrate exactly why our postmen and women are such highly-valued members of their local communities," she said.

Because of their jobs, postal workers were often first at the scene in cases of fire, road accidents, and robbery and instinctively get involved, she added.