Praise for life-saving 999 operator

Penny Leonard kept a distressed resident on the phone until firefighters arrived to rescue him from his home in Cookson Street, Balby in the early hours of the morning.

The blaze started after cooking was left unattended and caught fire, when two men in their 30s were in the house.

One man managed to escape and was outside when firefighters arrived but the other was trapped in a first floor bedroom, unable to escape due to the amount of smoke.

Penny Leonard, a control room operator on South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue’s white watch, kept the man calm until the fire crews from Edlington and Doncaster reached the scene.

A spokesman said: “Her advice included giving him vital survival tips, like telling him to shut his bedroom door, putting something under it to keep the smoke out and putting his head out of the window so he could breathe fresh air.

“Firefighters used a short extension ladder to rescue the man from the window before putting the fire out using a hose reel, leaving the scene at around 4am last Monday.

“Both of the men were taken to hospital after suffering the effects of smoke inhalation.

“A smoke alarm was found in the bathroom of the property and it had worked, helping to alert the residents to the fire.”

Station manager and control room manager Lorraine Smith, said: “We give all our 999 operators extensive training in how to speak to callers when they are unable to escape their property in the event of a fire.

“It’s during incidents like this one that the training really pays off.

“Penny did an absolutely fantastic job and I have absolutely no doubt that her calm and reassuring words played a vital role in the successful rescue of this resident.”

The fire service is reminding people to think about how they would get out of their house if smoke alarms did go off at night.

You can hear parts of the dramatic phone call here:

http://www.syfire.gov.uk/Documents/Fire_Survival_Cookson_Street_Edit.wav

Tips include:

Everyone in the house should know where door and window keys are kept at night.

Keep escape routes clear of clutter.

Make sure you have a second route planned, in case you can not use the normal route in and out of your home.