FIREFIGHTERS who saved an elderly woman from a fire have been praised with a special commendation.

 

County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service has praised the efforts of Crew Manager Gary Lawson and Firefighters Adam Holmes, Stephen Collinson, Craig Doherty and Ryan Meeson from Middleton-In-Teesdale, who have all been awarded a Chief Fire Officer’s Commendation for saving a woman’s life in a house fire.

The crew, who are on-call firefighters, arrived at the house to a well-developed fire.

Outside of the property were members of the public who had tried to gain access themselves, confirming there was an elderly woman trapped inside.

The crew came up with a plan very quickly, led by Incident Commander Gary Lawson.

Firefighters Stephen Collinson and Craig Doherty entered the house in full breathing apparatus to rescue the woman.

Luckily, they had prior knowledge of the layout as one of them is a tradesperson who had previously been inside the house.

Their decision to search upstairs first ultimately saved the woman’s life.

Chief Fire Officer Stuart Errington awarded the heroic crew with their commendations, he said: “There is no doubt the quick actions of the crew, their professionalism, decision making, and exemplary teamwork meant that they were able to save someone’s life, I am immensely proud of them all, well done.”