A tradie has made good use of his steel cap boots, helping save a burning Fairy Meadow home from total ruin.
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Kirk Ratini was getting started on a new driveway on Storey Street Monday morning when the man who had employed him spotted smoke coming from a house further along the street.
Both men went to investigate and – unsure if anyone was inside – yell warnings through the windows.
It took Mr Ratini two or three good kicks to break the back door in.
He found the kitchen well alight.
With an off-duty police officer, the men used garden hoses to extinguish much of the blaze before firefighters arrived.
“The flames were up the wall. You couldn’t really see much - it was pretty black,” Mr Ratini said.
“The people from next door put a hose under the fence and we just did the best we could until firies and police turned up.”
The Mercury arrived to find Mr Ratini back at work, shoveling gravel from the back of a ute.
Fire crews were called to the home about 10am. They finished extinguishing the visible flames and worked on several hot spots that had reached inside the roof.
Wollongong station officer Ed Melinz said the fire began in the kitchen when a refrigerator short-circuited. The fridge is believed to be a fairly modern appliance.
The flames spread to the kitchen bench, up the cupboards then into the roof.
Mr Melinz praised the passers-by who intervened before crews arrived.
“If they weren't there, the fire would have spread a lot further,” he said.
“They did a good job of containing the fire to the room of origin.”
About 30 per cent of the house was damaged by fire. About 80 per cent suffered heat and flame damage.
Authorities were attempting to contact the home owner as at 11am.