That was more than six years ago but the Lidcombe resident (pictured) says his memory of the events of November 9, 2014, haven’t faded.
At the time of the fire, he was the general manager at Suttons car dealership and was returning to work after a church service when he noticed thick black smoke billowing from the home.
Racing down the street while a colleague called the fire brigade, he said that was when he saw a woman grab a garden hose and go inside the house in an attempt to put out the blaze.
Without considering the risk, he followed her through the smoke and flames and brought her back outside to safety.
“When it’s your own backyard, you don’t hesitate in those situations,” he said.
“In hindsight, it could have been very different.”
While the father of three’s actions were previously recognised with a Region Commendation Certificate for bravery in January 2018, last week he also received a Commendation for Brave Conduct from the Governor-General David Hurley, an honour he admits came out of the blue all these years later.
“At the time I received a lot of acknowledgment and well wishes,” he said.
“I just sort of put that in the achievement basket and forgot about it, and then all of a sudden there’s an email from the Governor-General.”
Now running his own business, Crash Claim, which is about 400m from scene of the fire, he still keeps in touch with the woman and her family admitting with a laugh that she is “a big fan”.
