Above: The pot and burnt contents which filled the Ellendale Road unit with dense smoke.By Shaun Inguanzo
A DISABLED elderly Noble Park woman is lucky to be alive after Greater Dandenong firefighters heroically dragged her from a smoke-filled unit on Tuesday afternoon.
Neighbours of the immobile woman, who lives in Ellendale Road, heard the unit’s smoke alarm screeching and immediately phoned 000 at 12.30pm.
Noble Park CFA third lieutenant Robert Ayres said the Dandenong Country Fire Authority (CFA) brigade arrived on scene first with two pumpers followed closely by one Noble Park truck, and paramedics.
Mr Ayres said the woman’s husband had left the house temporarily when a pot on the stove erupted into flames.
The fire caused little structural damage but flooded the unit with dense clouds of harmful smoke.
“The unit was heavily smoke-logged. There was an extreme amount of it,” Mr Ayres said.
“You couldn’t see through it so we sent about three guys in to find the lady.”
The unit was locked and firefighters had to smash their way in before searching for the distressed woman.
“They did a standard search pattern and the lady was yelling out, which helped them find her easily,” Mr Ayres said.
Firefighters then pulled the woman to safety before re-entering the home.
“The lady came out first, then the pot, and then firefighters did a secondary search to make sure the house was empty,” Mr Ayres said.
Paramedics rushed the woman to Dandenong Hospital, where she was treated for minor smoke inhalation.
The woman’s husband returned during the rescue, Mr Ayres said.
“He was shocked and stunned, and said he had not planned to be away for that long,” he said.
It took a total of 12 firefighters just 45 minutes to rescue the lady, extinguish the fire and pack up, Mr Ayres said.
He said the damage bill would be “$6 or $7 for the pot” and a “fairly hefty steam cleaning bill” to remove the smoky smell and residue from the interior.
But the fairytale ending could have been tragic if not for the efforts of firefighters – and the unit’s smoke alarm.
“It was a very good job by all, especially the neighbours who phoned in,” Mr Ayres said.
“It shows that working smoke alarms save lives.”
