By Leicester Mercury | Posted 19 April, 2014
A charity fund-raiser feared the worst when he came across a disabled man trapped in a smoke-filled house.
Stephen Howell, 28, from Scraptoft, was in Loughborough knocking on doors to collect cash for LOROS this week when he smelled smoke coming from a home nearby.
As Stephen approached the door, in Shelthorpe Avenue, he heard the fire alarm and saw smoke coming through the letterbox.
He was unsure if anyone was inside until a man approached him in a panicked state, shouting that his uncle, who is in his 60s and is deaf and mute, was inside.
Stephen said: "I'd just signed up the neighbour and walked round to the house.
"The first thing I noticed was the smell of smoke, but I didn't hear the alarm until I walked up to the front door.
"I knocked a few times, but didn't hear anything and then his nephew turned up.
"He said 'Oh God, my uncle's in there and he's deaf and mute'.
"He said his auntie was in hospital so his uncle was alone. He started to panic and tried to get in, but didn't have a key.
"He put his hand through the letterbox and smoke started to pour out. There was lots of it – the house must have been filled."
Stephen called the emergency services while the man's nephew tried to get into the home.
Within a few minutes, three teams of firefighters arrived and were able to rescue the pensioner and his guide dog.
A spokesman for the fire service said: "Three pumps attended, two from Loughborough and one from Shepshed.
"On arrival, the firefighters gained entry and extricated the person reported before passing him to ambulance staff for medical attention.
"They then ventilated the property. There was light smoke damage to the property and severe damage caused to the cooking implements."
The pensioner was unharmed.
A spokeswoman for East Midlands Ambulance Service said: "We received a call at 7.42pm on Tuesday, to Shelthorpe Avenue, from the fire service who had responded to a house fire.
"We dispatched a fast-response vehicle.
"However, there were no patients who required medical attention and no-one was taken to hospital."
