Flats fire rescue police praised

POLICE officers have been praised for their bravery after rescuing a man from a burning flat.

The Chronicle reported on Friday how a fire had broken out at a flat at Summervale House, Vale Drive, Werneth, at 5pm the previous evening.

A police officer and a man were taken to hospital suffering from the effects of smoke and fire crews led three men to safety from another flat in the block before tackling the blaze.

More details have emerged with Greater Manchester Police confirming that the drama began when they received reports at 4.45pm that a patient had gone missing from the Royal Oldham Hospital.

In an effort to locate the man officers attended the block of flats and forced entry into an apartment that had been set alight. A 25-year-old man was treated at the scene before being transferred to hospital to be assessed.

A responding officer was taken to hospital for treatment to smoke inhalation and has since been discharged.

Chief Insp Rob Tinsley, of Oldham CID, said: “I must commend the extraordinary bravery of responding officers who entered a burning apartment and risked their own lives to rescue the occupant.

“Their timely response and quick thinking has undoubtedly saved this resident from more serious injury and possibly even death.”

Fire damage was confined to a bed and the contents of a bedroom. Crews from Oldham, Chadderton and Hollins fire stations dealt with the blaze.