A GOREFIELD man has shrugged off any mention of heroics after he dragged a man from a burning building.
Mark Marney (41) was working from home on Tuesday when he spotted smoke coming from his neighbour's property on Honeyhill Road, Gorefield at around noon.
Mark went to investigate, concerned there was more smoke than a mere garden fire would accoun
t for.
After finding the front door open and an open van at the front of the house, he went around the back and saw his neighbour, known only as Steve, lying inside the house, not far from the back door.
Mark went into the house and dragged Steve to safety as the emergency services arrived.
"I wasn't a hero," Mark said. "I just did what anyone would do. It wasn't like I went in and searched the house to find him. I just saw him there and pulled him out."
Steve was taken to hospital with smoke inhalation.
Honeyhill Road was closed by the police while fire crews dealt with the fire. It took two crews to extinguish the blaze, which was affecting around half of the property in the ground and first floors and had spread to the roof.
The fire had caused cracks to appear in the exterior walls of the house, making parts of the building unsafe for firefighters to enter, so the fire was mostly fought from outside.
A fire investigation is underway to determine the cause of the fire.
