Hero neighbour tells of Shrewsbury fire rescue drama

An heroic neighbour today revealed how he helped rescue a woman trapped inside her burning flat in Shropshire.

Marc Miller helped drag the 44-year-old woman out of the property in Shrewsbury which was engulfed by toxic smoke.

The incident happened at the flat on Sundorne Road on Monday evening. Two other neighbours had forced the locked door.

Mr Miller, 36, of Allerton Road, Shrewsbury, who works as a driver for a private ambulance company, said he had been in his garden at the time when he saw the woman's two neighbours attempting to get into her flat as smoke came out of the back door.

He rushed over to join the pair as they desperately tried to get inside and save the woman.

"They kicked the door in and smoke came out of the entrance. One of them tried to get in but the smoke was too bad," he said.

"I had a go and put my t-shirt over my nose and mouth. I dragged her out and dragged her out of harm's reach. She had burns on her forearms and her hair was singed.

"She was conscious but not quite with it."

He said the toxic fumes inside the flat had been difficult to cope with.

"While I was dragging the lady out, I was being sick at the same time – the fumes were horrendous."

Mr Miller said he knew the woman by sight, but not her name. He added that the police officers, firemen and paramedics who all turned up within minutes had been excellent as they attended to the woman and put out the fire.

Steve Purslow, one of the investigation team from Shropshire Fire and Rescue, said the swift actions of the woman's neighbours 'probably saved the lady's life by bringing her out so rapidly'.

A spokesman for the fire service said today investigations into the cause of the fire were still ongoing.