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Supplied
Sheriff Cameron Young says he simply did what he thought should be done.
With thick black smoke filling the room and low visibility, a Paeroa police officer managed to get a man to safety as the house burned around him.
Emergency services were called to the Kennedy St fire around 3:20 p.m. Sunday, where one person was injured, said Fire and Emergency New Zealand North shift manager Daniel Nicholson.
A police officer was conducting a routine investigation near the property when he was alerted to the fire, Waikato Police East Area Commander Inspector Dean Anderson said in a statement to Stuff.
Agent Cameron Young, 39, reported the fire before entering the property, where he discovered that the back of the house was on fire.
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The sole occupant, a 73-year-old man, was outside the house and together with the neighbors they had started putting out the fire with a garden hose.
Knowing that the man was outside the home and that no one else was inside, Young returned to the front line to help fire services respond.
However, at that point the man returned to the house, with a neighbor alerting Young.
“The lady came running up to me, scared, saying the man had run back to the house,” Young said.
The man had returned to the house, through what he described as the “worst part of the fire.”
Young went to investigate and could see through the glass doors that smoke had filled the room, going up and down the glass.
Using his fire training skills, Young knocked on the door to see if it was hot, then discovered that it was locked.
He used his police baton to break the glass and open the door.
Stuff
The fire is not believed to be suspicious.
In the smoke-filled room, with flames invading from the left, Young saw the man emerge from one of the other rooms, stunned.
He told the man that he had to leave, but the man was reluctant to leave.
“I grabbed him and told him we had to go out. He knew the smoke was getting stronger; when I turned to take it out, the room was full of smoke, you couldn’t see it. “
When thick black smoke engulfed the couple, the man collapsed.
Young grabbed him, pushing objects aside as he dragged him back through the house and out.
The man’s clothes were scorched and his left hand and hair were burned.
The neighbor then helped the man get to the front of the property, where St John treated him before he was flown to the Waikato hospital.
“I certainly think I did what any other cop would have done. I just did what I thought I had to do, ”Young said.
“The audience was amazing, without their help it could have been a different story.
Anderson said staff came to work every day without really knowing what their shift would entail.
“Cam’s response to this challenging incident was outstanding and we are all grateful for the result.
“It was also nice to be contacted by a member of the public who very quickly reported her positive observations of Cam’s actions.”
The fire is not believed to be suspicious.
