A West Midlands bin man saw the smoke from the e-bike fire and climbed up a wall to reach the first-floor balcony of the property in Tipton.
A West Midlands binman has been hailed a hero for coming to the rescue of a man, woman and a dog that were trapped inside a burning house. It was while Steve Whitehouse was out on his usual morning round when he spotted the fire at a maisonette.
Without hesitation, the 49-year-old binman sprung into action, leaping over a fence and climbing a wall to get to the burning property. He scaled the wall to get to the first-floor balcony of the property.
He rescued a screaming woman and brought her to safety before going back two more times. One was to save the man and then his dog. His heroics have been praised by West Midlands Fire Service, who said that without his ‘incredible bravery’ the outcome may have been ‘very different’ due to the severity of the fire.
“I saw a young woman screaming from the balcony and all I could think was that I needed to get to her as quickly as possible,” said the dad of one, known as Winnie by his colleagues, of Yew Tree, West Bromwich. “The smoke was getting thicker.
“I called to anyone else who might be inside and could hear a young man shouting in distress for his dog. I managed to bundle up the dog in a blanket, jumped back down to the ground, and got the owner to throw the dog to me. I then went back up to help him.”
Having rescued the two residents and the dog, he turned his attention to making sure neighbours were safe, knocking on doors to alert them to the danger as smoke billowed from the home. After they evacuated, he tended to them – and after “recovering with a coffee” he and bin lorry driver Kevin Marriott incredibly just carried on with their round.
“I wanted to be sure that all our customers got their collections,” he said. “But that’s just me – it will probably sink in later today what actually happened.”
The blaze was caused when an e-bike battery exploded at the maisonette on Ridgeway Road. The electric vehicle, which had been charging at the bottom of the stairs, cut off the residents’ escape route as flames came out the property “like a blow torch”, said fire chiefs.
Tipton Watch Commander Chris Green heaped praise on the binman, saying: “It was clear as we approached that this was a severe fire. I have no doubt that, without Steve’s incredible bravery, the outcome could have been very different. I have no idea how he managed to do what he did.
“It was heroic. The fire and smoke were coming out of the property’s rear door like a blow torch. One rescue would have been remarkable. To save the lives of two people and a dog is staggering. We will be putting him forward for official recognition.”
Four fire engines and a total of 19 firefighters responded from Tipton, Dudley, Bilston and Wednesbury fire stations and arrived within four minutes of the 999 call.
