FIRE HERO OF 80

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21496, 20 May 1933, Page 3 (Supplement)

FIRE HERO OF 80

SAVING INVALID WIFE An 80-year-old man, Mr. V. Edwards, assisted by his daughter Elsie, rescued his invalid wife from their burning home in The Drive, Northwood, Middlesex, recently, by carrying her from her sickroom in a chair as the flames were licking the roof. i "I was sitting in my study, writing, when the fire began, ' Mr. Edwards said, " and my daughter was tending my invalid wife in another room. It must have been about 7 p.m. when 1 heard a crackling noise from the garden. I went out and saw a tiny flame creeping along the roof of the greenhouse. '' It spread with really amazing rapidity. I called to my daughter to go for the fire brigade and while she was gone. I tried to check the flames with buckets of water. By the time she had returned, the flames had got a good hold and were spreading to the roof of the house. " We had to act quickly. My wife was my only thought and she is so ill that a severe shock might end her life. " We lifted her into a chair and car--ried her to a nursing home a few yards along the road. She does not realise even now what has happened. " I went back to see if I could save anything from- the house, but it was hopeless. The flames simply engulfed it. " I am homeless. All ray belongings have gone—all my valuables and papers." ' >