Fire commander praises postman who pulled man from blaze

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http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/resources/images/4034697.jpg?display=1&htype=0&type=mc3 A POSTMAN who saved a man’s life by pulling him from a burning house has said it’s all “in a day’s work”.

Grandfather Tony Rendell, who was a Royal Mail postman in East Oxford for 25 years before moving to Thame about a year ago, has been hailed a true hero after dragging the man from a kitchen full of smoke.

The 56-year-old, who has three grown-up children and three grandchildren, was out on his usual morning delivery round in Kingston Blount yesterday morning when he heard an alarm going off at a nearby house. Mr Rendell, who lives with his fiancée Alison Boswell in Horspath, said on seeing the thick smoke through the window and a man on the floor next to a table, he rushed into the house and pulled him out.

He said: “He didn’t look very good and was saying his back was hurting. I shouted to a neighbour to call the fire service while I dampened down the table and threw water over the fire.”

When the fire service arrived, Mr Rendell said he still had his post bag on his shoulder and said the chief fire officer shook his hand to thank him for his efforts.

Yesterday incident commander station manager Marcus Reay called Mr Rendell a “true hero” and said: “Everyone was calling him Superman. They’ll be putting a cape on him rather than a postbag. In my opinion he should be considered for some sort of award.”

Mr Reay said that if it had not been for the postman’s quick thinking and if the fire service had got there 10 minutes later, flames could have been spreading up the stairs, putting the elderly man’s life in even more danger.

He added: “We would never encourage anybody to put themselves in danger. The best advice is to get out and stay out. Tony made an assessment that the fire was limited based on the amount of smoke he saw.”

Mr Reay said the fire had been accidentally started by a misplaced lit cigarette and added that people should always use proper ashtrays.

After being checked over for smoke inhalation Mr Rendell finished off his round and went back to work as normal yesterday.

He said: “They were all patting me on the back and singing Fireman Sam. I am chuffed that I could make a difference. You just do your job but it could have turned out to be a tragedy.”

It’s not the first time Mr Rendell has found himself helping out on his rounds. When he was on his round in Minchery Farm, Littlemore, 20 years ago he was alerted to a fire in a house. Thankfully nobody was trapped but he rescued a dog from the blaze.

He said: “My family have said I’m the postman who struck twice. It’s just all part of the service. You do notice things out of the ordinary as a postman because everything is normally the same on your round. My partner said she’s got her own little hero and is proud of me.”

Gordon Crossley, who lives next door to where the fire happened, alerted the fire service after seeing Mr Rendell step in.

He added: “Tony went in and got him out and he was alright. He just doing his normal round. He is a really good, grounded, ordinary sort of bloke. Everyone likes him round here. He’s an old school sort of guy.”

South Central Ambulance spokeswoman Michelle Archer said the man was treated for non-life threatening injuries and was taken to Stoke Mandeville Hospital.