Man rescued from house blaze in Wednesbury
[gallery] A man was rescued from a house in Wednesbury after a candle left at his bedside started a blaze.
The blaze broke out in King Street just after 9pm and a fire crew from Wednesbury station, which is in the same street, attended.
Another crew from Tipton was also called to the the blaze in a bedroom on the third floor of a semi-detached house.
When firefighters arrived the Portuguese householder, Jose Fiarinia, 45, could be seen with his head out of the window.
They went inside and brought him out, before he was treated with oxygen and taken to hospital in Walsall for a check-up.
Mr Fiarinia said he had left a candle on his bedside table and had gone to the local supermarket.
When he returned he found the bedroom full of smoke. He said the candle must have toppled over and set the furniture alight.
Mr Fiarinia said he tried to tackle the blaze, but was soon overcome by the smoke.
Robert Kempson was visiting friends and family who live opposite when he saw the smoke.
The 49-year-old from Charlemont in West Bromwich said: "I took the dog out for a walk, and that's when I saw the smoke coming out of the top window. My brother in law ran over to the fire station opposite to tell them."
He added: "We watched as they brought out the man, and then they threw out the burning mattress and other furniture onto the drive outside. They looked like they were treating him."
Wednesbury councillor Elaine Costigan said: "This man was very lucky. I love candles but you have to be so careful. In this case they were left unoccupied and it shows what can happen.
I would urged other people in Wednesbury to be extremely careful when using them."
Meanwhile, yesterday afternoon fire crews were called to a house fire in Rowley Regis.
Fire crews from Oldbury were called to a bungalow on Charles Avenue at around 10.30am after a passer-by alerted them to a fire.
The house was empty, but plumes of smoke could be seen coming from the windows. The crews had to break into the bungalow to tackle the fire.
The firefighters arrived just in time to stop the fire from spreading to the rest of the house. The blaze had caused significant damage to a bedroom, and there was smoke logging throughout the property. Fire crews are investigating the cause of the blaze.
