Kippax Butcher Tom Freeman saved a Dunlop family from a house fire on Wednesday morning by breaking down the front door and waking up the unsuspecting residents inside. Photos: Jarryd Rowley.
A Kippax butcher has saved the lives of a family in Dunlop after their garage caught fire on Wednesday morning (19 August).
Tom Freeman was preparing for work as usual, waking up at 5 am, defrosting his car’s windscreen, and kissing his wife goodbye.
Unlike every other morning, however, Tom noticed a smell from around the neighbourhood at around 5:45 am that he wasn’t familiar with: the scent of plastic burning.
Despite taking the same route to work every day, Tom decided to do a lap of his street to make sure everything was okay.
What followed was an incredible act of bravery.
“I just went for a little bit of a drive around just to make sure everything was all right, and I saw black smoke billowing out of this person’s garage door,” he said.
“I pretty much just parked the car up real quick, jumped out, grabbed my phone just in case I needed to call the firies, which I did have to after I got the residents out.
“I bashed their door to pieces and pulled the door out of its hinge almost. If that wasn’t going to work, I was going to break their window because I could see what was happening in the garage.”
Upon entering the house, Tom quickly found the people living inside who were still asleep and unaware that the fire had engulfed their garage and was spreading to their home.
“They had no idea why some crazy man was just bashing their door in. They were justifiably terrified,” he said.
“I let them know what was going on, and then the residents came out, and the man occupying the house came out and lifted his garage door up, but it was well and truly alight by that stage.”
Tom rushed to alert the neighbours on either side, making sure they knew about the fire and were prepared in case it spread.
He also called the fire brigade and waited until they arrived before leaving the scene.
Despite his bravery, Tom’s only focus was and still is the family who were affected.
“My heart goes out to the family that’s probably lost more than what I can imagine,” he said.
“I’m not too sure what condition the entire house is in, but from when I left the scene, just before the fire crews got there, it looked pretty devastating.
“I don’t want to be hailed as a hero. I believe that Canberra is full of people who would have done exactly what I did.”
Photos: Jarryd Rowley.
Tom clocked on at work not 20 minutes after leaving the fire.
Still rattled, Tom said he is thankful for his coworkers at Elite Meats who have helped him through a chaotic start to the day.
“If I wasn’t with the boys that I’m with right now, I suppose a bit too much of a deep reflection might happen. Thankfully, I can get stuck into work and take my mind off it,” he said.
“I feel for the family, who very well might have lost everything, but I guess materials can be replaced.
“Right now, I’m just thankful that everyone got out of that situation with their lives.”