NEIGHBOURS led an elderly man to safety after a fire broke out in his Carlisle home.
The drama unfolded in Punton Road, Stanwix, just after 4pm yesterday, when neighbours were alerted by the sound of smoke alarms going off inside the semi-detached house.
Two fire crews from stations in the east and west of the city were quickly on the scene. They arrived to find smoke billowing out of the property’s front door.
The man who lives in the house was quickly taken to The Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle suffering from smoke inhalation.
Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service watch manager Paul Dean said five crew wearing breathing apparatus went into the property, and two hose reel jets were used to put out the blaze.
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation, but one possibility being looked at is that it was down to an electrical fault.
Mr Dean added: “Internally, there’s a lot of smoke and heat damage to the property, with quite a bit of melted plastic.” The crews were at the scene for more than an hour.
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