Parked cars delay firefighters at house blaze

Crews from Rotherham and Edlington eventually made it to the house on Ellershaw Lane, Conisborough, to rescue a woman from her bedroom window.

A wheelie bin had been pushed against her front door and set alight, shortly after 10.30pm on Thursday (20).

Neighbours managed to put out the flames with a powder extinguisher before firefighters arrived.

Watch manager Daz Robertson reminded residents to leave enough room for emergency vehicle access.

He said: “There were some cars double-parked on this road and it was difficult to get our fire appliance through to the incident.

“I had to get out of the vehicle and run the last 100 metres or so on foot to make my initial assessment and give advice to this woman, before the appliance managed to get through.

“It didn’t affect the outcome of this incident but on another occasion this sort of delay could hamper us significantly.”

The woman, in her 20s, was the only on inside at the time. She did not need hospital treatment, but was given oxygen for smoke inhalation.

Mr Robertson also warned about the potentially fatal consequences of wheelie bin fires.

He said: “Setting fire to wheelie bins may seem like a game, but this woman could have been seriously injured or even killed if she hadn’t been alerted by smoke alarms fitted by South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue and the prompt actions of her neighbours.

“Setting any kind of fire can put people at risk, but deliberately placing a wheelie bin against a front door is extremely serious.”