Postman rescues neighbour and his dog from Swindon house fires

Dean Dawson said "without thinking" he jumped over a fence to check on his neighbour

A postman who helped to rescue a neighbour and their dog from a burning building said it was "scary how quickly everything happened".

Dean Dawson, 30, went to the aid of John Willmott whose house caught fire when a discarded cigarette set a garden fence alight.

Mr Dawson said "without thinking" he ran to check Mr Willmott was ok.

Four terraced houses on Walter Close in Swindon were damaged by the flames on Thursday.

"I know you hear about it all the time, but until you see it, it is scary how quickly it happened," the father-of-one said.

Mr Dawson's partner, Brittany, was the first to spot smoke coming from a nearby house at about 15:14 BST.

"I ran out into the garden to check what it was and realised one of the fence panels had caught fire," Mr Dawson said.

The fire quickly took hold of the house, Mr Dawson said

He said he heard a lady and her children shouting for help, but as they were safely away from the fire, his thoughts turned to his neighbour, whom he had lived behind for three years.

"I just needed to get to him to make sure he was ok and out of the house," Mr Dawson said.

"As I got through the door he was there and looked really confused... he just dropped to the floor clutching his chest.

"Instantly I thought 'he's going to have a heart attack, there's something going on'.

'Ran back in'

"I knelt down next to him, I have a bit of experience with calming down panic attacks, and just talked to him, tried to reassure him, told him to breathe and that it was going to be alright and we would get him out of the house."

Mr Dawson, who has worked as a postman in Swindon for six years, was helped by three other people - all of whom work for Royal Mail.

"There were four of us, we were like the first emergency response," Mr Dawson said.

"Then someone said 'what about the dog?' - without thinking I ran back in and got the dog out and gave him to one of the lads outside."

The four terraced houses have been declared unsafe following the fire

After fetching Daisy the golden retriever, Mr Dawson went back for a third time hoping to do something to slow down the flames.

He said he shut some doors and turned off a fan, but soon "the flames were way too high and smoke was coming in everywhere".

Reflecting on his actions, Mr Dawson said it was "probably stupid, as much as selfless".

Fire crews 'incredible'

Mr Dawson praised the actions of the fire service that attended with about 50 firefighters.

"The fire crew response was incredible, how quickly they got there and how hard they worked," Mr Dawson said.

"They were there in no time, just everyone who responded, the police as well."

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said one man was treated for smoke inhalation but everybody else was able to leave the homes without injury.

A spokeswoman for the fire service said: "The fire started accidentally due to a discarded cigarette which set a fence between two gardens alight, which then spread to the houses."

Review ordered

The local community has since set up a fundraising page to support those affected by the fire.

Sovereign Housing Association said the four fire-damaged properties had been boarded up and declared unsafe.

Secure fencing had since been erected and gas, electricity and water had been made safe, it said.

Monitoring would be carried out over the weekend, it added.

A spokesman said: "We will be reviewing how the fire spread in coming weeks and any lessons learnt will be reported to our Health & Safety leadership group."

Nicole Sharp, the chief customer officer said: "I would like to acknowledge and say a huge thank you to housing and property colleagues for their response to this major incident, many of whom were onsite supporting customers into the late evening.

"The fire brigade have praised how organised and prompt to the scene they were."