A baby girl was rescued by a brave neighbour after smoke engulfed a flat in a kitchen fire
Richard Smith, 55, of Church Street, Bocking, jumped through a window of the ground floor flat just doors away from his home.
Mr Smith, who was cleaning his car, heard screams just before 11am on Saturday and saw a woman shouting.
He said: "I was out the front cleaning the car and then all of a sudden I heard these screams.
"This woman was shouting about her baby," he added. "Smoke was coming out of her window and she had jumped out the window."
He said while thick black smoke was coming out of the flat he tried to get in, but the doors were locked.
Mr Smith, a newsagent, said: "The only way in was through this open window and I took a deep breath, put a sponge I was cleaning the car with over my face and went in."
The baby girl, Louise Thompsett, who is nine months old, was in the front room and Mr Smith managed to get her out quickly.
Derek Leathlean, sub-officer at Braintree fire station, thanked Mr Smith. He said: "There are not many members of the public that would do that sort of thing."
Published Tuesday August 3, 2004
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