Neighbours have said a Nottinghamshire man was 'saved by taking dog to the vets' as the 'orange glow' of a fire ripped through his home. Fire crews were deployed to the fire in Welham Road, Retford, on Monday, December 12 after workers at a nearby care home raised the alarm.
The house was gutted by the blaze, with its roof completely destroyed and its windows blown out, as reported by Lincolnshire Live. Neighbours said the man who lives in the property, who is in his 40s, was at an emergency vet in Doncaster at the time.
Trevor Gardner, 64, who lives next door, said: "We got a knock on our door at about 2.30am to 2.45am. It was carers from the nursing home who saw an orange glow in the sky.
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"Once they'd investigated, they telephoned the fire brigade and knocked on our door and the other neighbour's door. The only reason the man who lives in the house was not there at the time was because his dog is poorly and they were at the emergency vets in Doncaster.
"The fire brigade were here until about 11am trying to put it out." The man has been forced to find somewhere else to stay after the fire. Another neighbour, retired practice nurse Barbara Newbold, 80, was woken by the sound of her doorbell ringing shortly after 2.30am.
She said: "I went to the window and there was a lady from the nursing home saying: 'I think there's a fire'. It went up so quickly.
"There were flames in the air and things going bang. We could see the gates to the property were open and the man's van was gone. Taking his dog to the vets saved his life."
Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue confirmed that it received a call at 2.46am on December 12 to the house fire. A spokesperson said: "Crews from Retford, Worksop and Tuxford attended. A two-storey house was on fire and there were initially concerns about people inside.
"Mansfield’s aerial ladder platform, Worksop and Gainsborough also attended, and it was confirmed that no one was inside the building or injured. A fire investigation is taking place to investigate the cause." East Midlands Ambulance Service and the police also attended.
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