Housesitter Dean Hill assesses the damage to his parents’ home after soot build up set a wood heater alight. Dean has convinced his parents not to cancel their European holiday. Picture: Meagan Trotter.By Glen Atwell
A HOUSESITTER has been praised by the Upper Beaconsfield CFA after he fought to save his parents’ house from being razed by fire on the night of 20 August.
Dean Hill said he lit a fire in a solid wood heater on the bottom floor, then went upstairs to grab a soft drink.
In a matter of minutes he was battling a raging inferno.
The fire started in the flue of the wood heater and quickly spread to surrounding timber, including the floor of the second storey on which the 37yearold was standing.
Mr Hill has no sense of smell and partial brain damage after being in a coma last year, so the smell of burning timber and smoke did nothing to arouse his suspicions.
It was not until the flames began lapping at the kitchen door that he realised he was caught in the middle of the blaze.
“Out the corner of my eye I saw a bright orange light, and then heard some crackling,” he said.
“I realised there was a fire. It was a very frightening realisation.”
As the smoke billowed into the top storey, smoke alarms confirmed what his nose could not.
“It was smoke, but I could not smell it.
“And that doesn’t help when you’re trying to work out where the fire is coming from,” Mr Hill said.
After what he described as half a second of panic, he sprang into action.
“I knew there was a fire extinguisher in one of the cars outside, so I raced down to get that,” he said.
After emptying the extinguisher onto the fire, he realised the house was burning out of control.
“I needed water, so I grabbed the dog’s bucket from outside,” he said.
On the way outside, Mr Hill grabbed the phone and dialled 000.
With the fire brigade on the way, he used buckets of water to extinguish part of the fire.
Wrapping a wet towel around his head, he continued his efforts until the fire brigade arrived and found him hyperventilating on the front lawn. It took 15 firefighters an hour to contain the fire.
Despite extensive damage, it could have been worse.
“They told me I saved the house from total destruction,” Mr Hill said. “They said I should be proud.”
The response wasn’t so up beat from Dean’s parents, who are holidaying across Europe.
“They are camper vanning across Europe at the moment, and Mum naturally assumed the worst when I told her.
“She thought the house was just stumps and everything was gone. Luckily Dad was calm,” Dean said.
A buildup of soot in the flue was blamed for the blaze.
Captain Graeme MacGowan from the Upper Beaconsfield CFA said the fire should serve as a reminder for people with chimneys.
“Get your flues and chimneys checked and cleaned before each winter.
“Soot build up can catch alight and spread through rafters and beams in the roof,” Captain MacGowan said.
