Heroic passer-by saves man from burning house
An Adelaide man says he is lucky to be alive after a passer-by saved him from a house fire.
Mark Winter says a passing motorist knocked on the door of his Evanston Park home in Adelaide's northern suburbs after seeing smoke billowing from the rooftop.
Mr Winter’s smoke alarms didn’t go off because the blaze started in his roof.
“(He) said I had smoke coming out of the roof,” he said.
“If it wasn’t for him it could have been a lot worse.”
The Good Samaritan rang triple zero while Mr Winter grabbed a fire extinguisher to douse the flames in the ceiling above his kitchen pantry.
The vineyard worker had recently spent thousands on renovations including replacing the roof.
“(You) work all your life getting a house,” Mr Winter said.
“I’ve only just had electricians in here a couple of weeks ago.”
He said it was “weird” there was no smoke in the house.
Metropolitan Fire Service’s Cameron Bain said when smoke is contained in a roof space the alarm “doesn’t get a chance to do its work”.
But the MFS insists smoke alarms are still the best defence against house fires.
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The passer-by later returned to check on Mr Winter and his dog Yogi.
“He came out of the blue and I couldn’t stop shaking his hand,” Mr Winter said.
“Whoever he is, thank you very much.”
Damage is estimated at $10,000. It’s thought an electrical fault is to blame.
