Cambridge man rescued neighbours after wheelie bin blaze spread to house

A Cambridge man got his neighbours out of their homes before a fire spread on Tuesday (May 14). Naythan Crook, 34, was picking his children up from school with his partner when he noticed smoke coming from a garden in Nuns Way.

Mr Crook, who lives nearby, said he and another man looked over the wall and saw that a wheelie bin was on fire. After gaining access to the garden where they hoped to extinguish the fire, they spotted what looked like a gas canister next to it.

"I said, we need to evacuate because if that goes it's going to blow up," Mr Crook told CambridgeshireLive. "As we were getting out, I noticed a shadow in the house itself, which was the man that lived there."

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Mr Crook, who has been trained as a fire marshal, went around to the front of the house where he barged in through the front door and got the man to come outside. He said: "The house was full of smoke – any longer and it could have been a lot worse."

He also went to the house next door where the door was open. He walked in and told the residents to get out because he was concerned about the fire spreading, before they "waited for the fire brigade to come and do their bit".

Two crews from Cambridge and the south roaming fire engine were called to the fire at 2.52pm. They extinguished the fire and returned to their stations by 5.05pm.

The cause of the fire was found to be accidental. A spokesperson for the fire service confirmed the fire started in a wheelie bin where there was an aerosol or cylinder, before it 'spread quickly' to the rear porch of the property.

Mr Crook said he reacted on instinct: "I'm not a hero at all. I just wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't do something knowing there was someone inside there. It's what everyone should do if they get the opportunity to help somebody."

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