A High Wycombe woman has thanked a quick-thinking postman for saving her house after he noticed it was on fire during his shift.
Danielle Bentley, who lives in Wheelers Park in the town, had left her property roughly in the morning of September 24 before receiving a call from a concerned neighbour 45 minutes later that a blaze was seen near her home.
She immediately rushed back to her abode, where she saw one fire engine and a crew tending to the incident.
This occurred at around 11 am, with a shed, fence, tree and some garden furniture being badly damaged.
The fire occurred at around 11 am on September 24(Image: Danielle Bentley)
Little did Ms Bentley realise that her postman, who is only known as Lee, spotted the flames when on duty and ‘immediately’ sprang into action.
Speaking to the Free Press, she explained: “I was quite lucky because he’s not usually there [doing his shift when the fire happened], as he usually comes quite early.
“He ended up being here, and my neighbours said he was at the bottom of the road.
“When he saw the fire, he came running across the road towards my house because he knew I had a pet dog.
“He ran across the road, grabbed a hosepipe, jumped over my locked gate, ran into the garden and tried to put the fire out which had spread to my garden.
“If it wasn’t for that postman, who selflessly put himself at risk to get that hosepipe on, I would have lost my home.
“His actions were so quick that they prevented going to my back door.
“Chances are, I would not have been sitting in my house.”
There were no reported injuries(Image: Danielle Bentley)
Images from the scene show that numerous belongings to Miss Bentley had been badly damaged or destroyed in the blaze, but the house remained unscathed.
A gazebo, shed, fence, tree and picnic box were all charred in the fire.
Despite this, there were no reported injuries, and the cause of the blaze has not yet been determined.
She continued: “My neighbour called me and the only thing I heard was that my house is on fire.
“I knew my son was safe as he was at school, but I just thought of my dogs.
“By the time I got home, the fire department was already here, and the postman had stayed until I got back so that he could talk to me.
“He even apologised to me about not being able to save my garden furniture.
“Some people might have walked off, but he ran from the other side of the road, jumped over my gate with a hosepipe and did the best he could.
“He went above and beyond with no thought for his own safety.
“So many people don’t do that, and if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have my dogs or my home.
“He doesn’t realise how much he has saved.”
