Gosnells fire 'hero' tells of torment over lost child

as posted here

A YOUNG man has spoken of his bittersweet heroic act at rescuing a grandmother from a house inferno but the torment of not being able to save her grandson.

More than a week after fire ripped through the Corfield St ,Gosnells house, killing six-year-old Zacery Ryan and seriously injuring his grandmother, 20-year-old Michael has described how he and his father acted on instinct when they ran into a burning house believing someone may be trapped.

Police and firefighters have praised the efforts of the men, but Michael yesterday revealed tht he had endured sleepless nights since the incident and had found it difficult to reconcile that he had been unable to save little Zac.

It was 8.45am on Thursday, August 27 when Michael and his father Rob, 47, who did not want their surnames published, had been driving past and noticed smoke billowing from the roof tiles.

Immediately, the pair pulled over and rushed to the front door, kicking it in to find an unconscious woman slumped in the foyer.

``She wasn't moving at first or responding at all so we didn't know what to think,'' Michael told
The Sunday Times.

``There was that much smoke in the room that you couldn't see a couple of feet in the house.

``So we've checked on her again and she's looked up at us. The look she gave us was unbelieveable..and me and my Dad have just gripped her and dragged her out.''

But as soon as they had plucked her to safety, Michael and Rob realised Zac was still inside.

As Rob grabbed a garden hose to douse flames licking out of the bedroom window, Michael prised open the locked back security screen and crawled inside the smoke-filled house.

``I couldn't go in very far. I couldn't see bugger all. It was really hot in there,'' Michael said.

``I was just thinking of getting the young fella out, you know.''

Michael said the heat from the fire, which was concentrated to the bedroom, was so intense that the flames licked through the melting, contorted glass panel.

``There was flames roaring out a bedroom window and he (Dad) ran and grabbed the garden hose...and put the fire out,'' he said.

``As soon as he's started hosing, trying to put the fire out, the window has just shattered.''

By the time firefighters arrived, Rob had subdued the bedroom fire with a garden hose.

Michael said he had spoken to relatives of the family, since the tragedy who had thanked the pair for their courage.

``They're just happy that we saved at least one person,'' he said. ``I wanted to speak with them. I know what they would be going through because of what I felt after it happened.

``I feel sorrow for what happened to the young fella, but we couldn't change that. But at least the older lady is alright now.

``Seriously, I think she deserves a medal more than anyone, cos when we got her, her hands and her face were like black like charcoal. She'd been burnt trying to get to the kid and she's only just made it to the front door.

``I'm just happy that she's alive. At least there is one person that was saved instead of both of them perishing in such a bad way.

``Both me and my Dad just acted on instinct. We just did what we thought any person would do.

``It's very hard to experience something like that...I just did what I thought was right.''

The woman remains in Royal Perth Hospital with serious burns and smoke inhalation.

Detective First Class Constable Connor Magee praised the efforts of the two men.

``It's an absolute tragedy and it could have been worse if it wasn't for them,'' Det Magee said.

``It's an heroic effort. At the end of the day, it could have been two people (dead) instead of one.''


as posted here