Smoke pouring out of both sides of the maisonette in Tipton yesterday (Picture: West Midlands Fire Service/SWNS)
A bin man who saw flames leaping from a flat ‘like a blow torch’ climbed a balcony three times to rescue those inside, saving the lives of a man, a woman and their dog.
Steve Whitehouse, 49, showed incredible bravery to climb up to the first floor and make sure all three were rescued after he heard a woman screaming.
Even rescuing one of them would have been remarkable, the local fire chief said, but to bring all three out safely was ‘staggering’.
The fire raged so fiercely that the entire flat in Tipton, as well as its contents, was destroyed with a photo showing the kitchen completely blackened and gutted.
It is believed to have been sparked by an e-bike battery exploding while charging at the bottom of the stairs, cutting off the escape route.
The ‘staggering’ feat will see Steve put forward for recognition for bravery.
Steve Whitehouse (right) with colleague Kevin Marriott (left) (Picture: Serco/SWNS)
The flat was completely gutted in the fire (Picture: West Midlands Fire Service/SWNS)
After handing over to the fire service when they arrived, he got back in his bin lorry and carried out with his round.
‘I wanted to be sure that all our customers got their collections,’ Steve said – though he at least took a breather with a coffee before getting on with the job of collecting trades waste.
Multiple people had called 999 about the fire on Ridgeway Road around 8am yesterday.
Nine firefighters in four fire engines rushed to the scene, where they found the ‘severe’ fire – but thankfully no loss of life.
Serco employee Steve, known as Winnie by his colleagues, has worked as a bin man in Sandwell since 2007 but this shift must be the most memorable.
‘I saw a young woman screaming from the balcony and all I could think was that I needed to get to her as quickly as possible,’ he said.
The worker, who lives in Yew Tree with his partner and daughter, jumped over a fence and scaled a wall to get to the flat.
Steve climbed into the burning building three times to make sure all were safe (Picture: West Midlands Fire Service/SWNS)
‘The smoke was getting thicker,’ he said. ‘I called to anyone else who might be inside and could hear a young man shouting in distress for his dog.
‘I managed to bundle up the dog in a blanket, jumped back down to the ground, and got the owner to throw the dog to me. I then went back up to help him.’
Meanwhile his colleague Kevin tended to neighbours who’d evacuated their homes for safety, and let Steve’s family know what was happening.
A man in his twenties was taken to hospital with smoke inhalation, a woman, also in her twenties, was checked over by paramedics at the scene, and the dog was given oxygen therapy by firefighters.
Tipton Watch Commander Chris Green said: ‘I have no doubt that, without Steve’s incredible bravery, the outcome could have been very different.’
Danny Millard, council cabinet member for highways, said he praised ‘quick thinking’ Steve, Kevin and the rest of their crew’s efforts ‘to continue with the day job and complete the collection round following this incident.’
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