A heroic special constable has told of his desperate attempt to rescue a woman from her blazing home.
Alan Baldree, 35, didn't hesitate when he saw smoke billowing from the home in Malgraves Place, Pitsea, after a chip pan fire started in a nearby bungalow.
The fire ripped through the home, then spread next door, destroying half the roof.
Together with friend Steve Young, 21, Mr Baldree, who was off-duty, broke into the first bungalow to try to rescue 53-year-old Brenda Savage.
But firefighters wearing breathing apparatus had to rescue Alan, as well as Mrs Savage, after they were left overcome by the thick, black smoke. Both escaped without serious injury.
But to add to the chaos, firefighters were called to a nearby 81-year-old Malgraves resident, John Day, who had suffered a heart attack.
They tried to resuscitate him for 15 minutes before an ambulance arrived, but he was dead on arrival at hospital.
Mr Baldree, who has been an officer in Benfleet for nine years, said: "I feel proud of having gone in there.
"I am not the sort of person to stand by and watch something happen."
Mr Baldree, who lives nearby, was alerted to the fire after smelling smoke and seeing it billowing from the bungalow's roof.
After calling 999 he kicked in the door, wrapped only in a coat.
He said: "I crawled in but couldn't see anything except the orange of the fire amongst the black.
"I went back in to try to find anyone but the flames and heat were overwhelming"
Eventually firefighters stepped in and Mrs Savage and Mr Baldree were later taken to Basildon Hospital and treated for smoke inhalation.
Mrs Savage's son Brian, who lives with her, said: "My mum was cooking chips. The chip pan went up and has severely damaged the kitchen and the lounge."
Overcome by smoke - (right) Alan Baldree, and (left), part of the home involved in the fire
Pictures: STEVE O'CONNELL
Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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