Perth man runs back into burning home to save his granddaughter
A Perth grandfather braved a wall of flames and thick smoke to run back into a burning building and save his nine-year-old granddaughter.
Steve Hutton had already fled his burning Armadale demountable home when he realised his granddaughter didn’t make it out of the property with him.
With the door dead bolted from the inside, Mr Hutton ripped off the door and reached for the nine-year-old’s hand as she was lying on the floor.
“It was just survival mode,” Mr Hutton said.
“When you know one of your family’s in danger, you do these things.”
Mr Hutton dragged the unconscious nine-year-old into the backyard before paramedics arrived.
The fire broke out at the wrecking yard site around 3am. Neighbour Jeff McKenna said he heard yelling and screaming before he and Mr Hutton grabbed fire extinguishers from the scrap metal yard in an effort to fight the blaze.
"By the time I got to it the flames were roaring - the place was engulfed," Mr McKenna said.
The girl, her three sisters and cousin were all taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation, while Mr Hutton was treated for minor burns.
According to fire authorities, an electrical fault is believed to be behind the blaze.
