Fire rescue by cops
Published: March 16, 2006
HEROIC policemen saved an elderly man from his burning flat in a dramatic daylight rescue.
Sgt Colin Davies kicked in the door of the fifth-floor flat and dragged 75-year-old Omar Idris to safety as he was suffocating in the smoke.
Safer Neighbourhood Police investigating the stairwells at Fitzgerald House in East India Dock Road by Chrisp Street Market, Poplar, on Monday (March 13) raised the alarm as smoke began filling the corridors at around 1pm.
PC Andrew Phidia told Sgt Davies, who was on patrol in nearby Chrisp Street, that he had heard a noise coming from inside flat 15 - the source of the smoke - and was told to call the fire brigade, stay put and wait for assistance.
Sgt Davies said: “I knew that the last thing PC Phidia should do in that situation was to kick the door down. If there was a fire raging behind that door, it would have put the lives of our officers at risk if they had attempted to enter before I got there.
“But once I arrived he informed me he heard noises coming from inside the flat, and from that moment I knew we had no choice.”
Sgt Davies kicked the door in and rushed inside, along with PC Phidia, PC Gareth Nash and PCSO Salik Abdul. “We found the elderly man almost unconscious because of all the smoke and managed to get him out quickly,” said Sgt Davies. Mr Idris had left food cooking on the stove, which caused the fire.
Sgt Davies, of the East India and Lansbury ward, praised the quick-thinking displayed by his officers - one of whom is still suffering the after-effects of excessive smoke inhalation. “The fire brigade had been called and were on the scene just a few minutes later, but I have no doubt that had my officers not been looking around that particular block at the time then the man would have died,” he said. “In such a situation we are trained to call the fire brigade first, which is what they did, but once it became apparent someone was inside we had no other option but to enter the flat.”
Mr Idris was taken to hospital but was discharged on Tuesday (March 14). Sgt Davies visited him back in his fire-damaged home later that day, and Somali Mr Idris, who has no family in this country, thanked the police for their courage.
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