Mansfield man hailed a hero after racing into neighbour's burning house and putting out fire

A Mansfield man has been hailed a hero after running into his neighbour’s burning home to extinguish the fire.
Electrician Chris Shaw with fire crews after extinguishing a fire in his neighbours kitchenElectrician Chris Shaw with fire crews after extinguishing a fire in his neighbours kitchen
Electrician Chris Shaw with fire crews after extinguishing a fire in his neighbours kitchen

Electrician Chris Shaw was at his home on Baldwin Close, Forest Town, yesterday morning (April 8), when his neighbour Sarah knocked on his door to ask if he had a fire extinguisher.

Chris, 39, retrieved his fire extinguisher from his work van, and ran across the road to Sarah’s house, expecting a small fire.

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However, her entire kitchen was ablaze, thanks to her tumble drier catching fire.

Electrician Chris Shaw with fire crews after extinguishing a fire in his neighbours kitchenElectrician Chris Shaw with fire crews after extinguishing a fire in his neighbours kitchen
Electrician Chris Shaw with fire crews after extinguishing a fire in his neighbours kitchen

Chris, of Chris Shaw Electrical Service Ltd said: "I'm normally at work at the time it happened, but I was at home completing some paperwork.

“I grabbed the extinguisher from the van and went into the house thinking it would be a tiny little fire.

"The whole kitchen was on fire and the tumble drier was just bellowing smoke out.

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“I used the extinguisher, which didn’t touch the fire at all.

“I was thinking now what?

“The patio door was open, so I ran outside for some fresh air and saw a hosepipe.

“It was an electrical fire, so I thought the power will have tripped by now.

“In the worst case the tumble drier is going to pop, so I ran back in and used the hosepipe.”

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Fire crews and paramedics arrived just after Chris managed to put out the fire with the hosepipe.

Luckily, no one was hurt and Chris and others were treated by paramedics and fire crews for smoke inhalation at the scene.

Chris’ wife, Lisa, praised the emergency services for their humour while dealing with the fire.

After getting to work that morning, Lisa realised she has Chris’ wallet, and after struggling to contact him she checked the CCTV cameras outside their home.

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Upon seeing the emergency services on her road, she raced home, to find Chris on the street after extinguishing the fire.

Lisa, who works at Centre Parcs, said: “ When I saw Chris he had no shoes on and a black face.

“The fire crews said within the eight minutes it took for the emergency services to arrive the whole house would have gone up.

“On a serious note I’ve seen the damage to our poor neighbours house and it’s frightening how quickly fires spread.

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“The firemen and paramedics were amazing in checking him over and really lovely guys.”

After being called a hero for his actions on social media, Chris said: “I feel overwhelmed - to me, I’m not a hero - anybody would help

“You just do what you’ve got to do.

“I am proud of myself for reacting under pressure.”

Christian Brown, Mansfield Fire and Rescue station manager said: “A build-up of fluff in tumble dryer filters has been known to contribute to fires involving these appliances, and for this reason, we would always recommend cleaning filters regularly."

The fire service confirmed that two men, and one 38-year-old woman, were treated by paramedics and fire crews for smoke inhalation at the scene.

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