Lycra-clad cyclists in mansion rescue
Lycra may be on the nose in Perth but two cyclists took advantage of their skin-tight attire to climb a 2m wall and save a woman from a burning Dalkeith mansion.
On Monday night - hours after the Raffles Hotel shored up its controversial "no lycra" policy - Craig Johns and Douglas Repacholi, during their 80km ride, noticed smoke coming from the two-storey Jutland Parade home.
When the two plumbers, who also work together, investigated they found the front gates locked.
They jumped the perimeter wall and found the front room of the home engulfed in flames.
"We called out, 'Is anybody there? Your house is on fire', and sure enough this woman appeared out of the black smoke," Mr Johns said.
"I don't know whether she was just in shock but she went back into the home."
He said they tried to coax the woman out again, telling her she was in danger, but she was concerned about her pet birds.
They dialled triple-0 and, after a slight mishap of giving the wrong address, helped fire- fighters get inside the gate by breaking the lock with bolt cutters.
The woman, aged in her 70s, was taken to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital with smoke inhalation. Mr Johns said it could have been much worse.
"If we hadn't looked that way, no one would have known," he said. "None of the neighbours knew, even when it was fully involved they didn't know the house was on fire."
Mr Johns joked it was "a bit of a nightmare" trying to help firefighters while wearing cycling gear.
The fire, believed to have been accidentally started by a candle, caused about $100,000 damage.
