Quick-thinking neighbours praised as firefighters rescue woman (70)

QUICK-THINKING neighbours have been praised for raising the alarm about an early-hours house fire in Holbury which resulted in a resident being taken to hospital.

Responding to a call-out around 1.50am on Saturday, firefighters rescued a 70-year-old woman from the blaze which had broken out in the living room on the ground floor of a terraced property in Holbury Drove.

She suffered smoke inhalation, which was described as “significant” by a Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson.

The casualty was treated by paramedics before being taken by ambulance to Southampton General Hospital.

The fire crews from Hardley, Beaulieu and Hythe spent just under an hour containing the emergency involving an armchair, with the aid of breathing apparatus. They then used a fan to vent smoke from the building.

The neighbours who raised the alarm were commended in a post about the incident on the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service Twitter account.

“BellsDown 01.50 to domestic fire in Holbury,” the tweet said.

“One casualty rescued from property. Casualty tended to by firefighters and handed over to [ambulance service].

“A huge shout out to her neighbours who heard the alarms and dialled 999.”