A less-aware person might not have heard the insistent screeching of the fire alarm or spotted puffs of grey smoke seeping from the Towradgi home’s roof.
But Shane Flanigan did, and firefighters have no doubt his quick action yesterday saved a life.
While walking his dog along Elizabeth St about 12.45pm, Mr Flanigan heard an alarm sounding from inside a dainty cream-painted fibro cottage in pretty gardens.
Then he saw the smoke and sprang into action immediately.
When the front door wouldn’t open, he charged in through the garage and managed to find a terrified elderly lady trying to get out of her home using a walking frame.
Across the road, neighbour Joe Gallo was busily working away in his garage when an intense burning smell hit him.
‘‘I looked out the front and I saw smoke coming out of the window,’’ he said.
Mr Gallo saw Mr Flanigan rush in through the garage door and followed him into the thick wall of acrid smoke.
They got the 94-year-old into a nearby wheelchair and, battling intense heat and smoke, got her out through the door.
New Elizabeth St resident Kiara Belsito also spotted the smoke and was so desperate to reach the scene she jumped out of a window in her house.
She reached the front door as the men burst out and helped get the elderly lady away from harm.
‘‘We just had to get her out and away from the smoke - it was crazy,’’ she said.
As they reached the road, a blanket of smoke swallowed the house and within seconds the fibro cottage was fully engulfed by the flames (see inset).
‘‘It came over like it was night time - it was horrible,’’ Ms Belsito said.
In the vain hope of somehow lessening the damage, the two men set about switching off power to the house.
‘‘Then I tried to shut the front door to stop air getting to the flames but I couldn’t get there because there was too much black smoke,’’ Mr Gallo said.
Ms Belsito then wheeled the lady around the corner and safely away from her blazing home.
‘‘She was really shaken and she had breathed in a lot of smoke,’’ Ms Belsito said.
Meanwhile, Mr Gallo prepared a nearby fire hydrant for the arrival of Fire and Rescue NSW crews.
Firefighters from Wollongong, Balgownie and Bulli extinguished the fire within 20 minutes, leaving behind a smouldering, burned-out shell.
FRNSW Inspector John Hawes said the home had been completely destroyed by the blaze.
Although the fire is not thought to be suspicious, an investigation into the cause has been launched.
‘‘The guys have seen that the fridge has completely and utterly been destroyed so we might start our investigations in that part of the kitchen, but it’s too early to actually say that is the cause. We’ll be looking at all avenues,’’ Insp Hawes said.
He praised the brave actions of neighbours, particularly Mr Flanigan who was first on the scene.
‘‘If it hadn’t been for that passer-by I don’t think she would have survived the fire,’’ Insp Hawes said.
Ambulance paramedics treated the lady for smoke inhalation and she was taken to Wollongong Hospital for treatment.
A pet bird kept in a cage on the back veranda died in the fire.
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