Neighbours pull elderly woman and son from burning home
Brave neighbours ran into the flames to drag out an elderly woman and her son from their burning Sydney home just moments before the roof collapsed.
With the Casula home burning from the top down, a garden hose couldn’t stop the fire fanning from a bedroom window.
Beneath the flames, an elderly woman and her adult son were trapped inside. Three men joined forces to save them, before firefighters arrived.
The heroes tried to kick the door down, before smashing a window, as intense flames engulfed the second storey.
They were rescued moments before the roof collapsed.
“I’ve screamed out and said ‘Is anyone in the house?'” Mario Naclerio told 7 News.
“Two people were in the house and I said ‘Come to the lounge room’ and as they came to the lounge room I pulled them out of the house.”
Neighbour Michael Tran told of how he helped bring the pair to safety.
“I crawled in there, I smashed the window with my mate. We smashed the window, we climbed in, we pulled her out.
“She was bleeding but she was ok. The guy was ok too, the son,” Mr Tran said.
Jeffery Urban suffered minor burns and managed to walk away for further treatment.
His elderly mother was taken to hospital suffering smoke inhalation.
“There was a working smoke alarm, which alerted the occupants to the presence of the fire which helped to get them from level two down to the ground level,” said Wayne Schweickle of Fire & Rescue NSW.
“However they were still trapped inside by the doors being locked.”
The blaze started upstairs, but exactly what sparked it, isn’t clear.
What remains of the roof could collapse at any moment, so the building needs to be secured before investigators can get a good look inside.
The family home is now facing demolition.
