EYE WITNESS: Quick-thinking Inverness shopkeeper helped neighbours after 'lucky' man leapt from top floor window to escape Dalneigh blaze
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A man leapt to safety from an upstairs bedroom window as flames engulfed his Inverness home earlier this morning.
The Dalneigh resident, named locally as John ‘Boy’ MacPhee, was discovered with leg injuries in his garden outside the property in St Valery Avenue by local shopkeeper Brian Duncan.
Mr Duncan (61), who has run Dalneigh Stores for the past 12 years, drove to the scene of the blaze near the junction with Bruce Gardens after smelling smoke in the air as he opened up for business at 5.30 am.
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Arriving at the scene soon after, Mr Duncan was able to raise the alarm and alert neighbours to ensure they safely evacuated their homes.
Emergency services, including three fire crews from Inverness and one from Drumnadrochit, arrived just after 6 am, with Mr MacPhee (52) – believed to be the sole occupant – treated by paramedics.
Describing how he found Mr MacPhee, the shopkeeper said: “I didn’t know if anyone was still in the house, and was heading into the garden when John came around from the back and told me it was his house that was on fire.
“He said he had jumped out of the top floor bedroom window and thought he’d broken his leg, which was cut and bleeding.
“He's quite lucky. He was in a bit of a state, maybe from shock. He has grown-up sons, but they weren’t there.”
Mr Duncan’s first impulse as he approached the blaze was to alert neighbours in adjoining properties.
He said: “Opening the shop at about 5.30 am, I was getting a really strong smell of smoke.
“There are a lot of wooden houses around here and a lot of pensioners so, smelling smoke at that time in the morning, you’ve got to be concerned.
“I went outside and saw it was coming from somewhere near the cemetery. I didn’t know if it was just rubbish burning or something like that, but I got in the van and went around.
“As I got closer, I could see a huge amount of smoke and there were flames billowing from the front door and the living room window.
“A boy delivering parcels nearby said he would phone the fire brigade.
“I knocked on the neighbours’ doors and told them they needed to get out because next door was an inferno, but I don’t think they realised how serious it was at first.
“By the time one of them had fussed about getting her smoke alarm switched off, I had to tell them to get out the back door because the heat out front was so intense.
“The front door was just melted away.
“I’m just thankful nobody seems to have been seriously hurt because, by the looks of it, it could have been a lot worse.”
One neighbour who lives close to the property described how she awoke to loud banging from the rear of Mr MacPhee’s home.
She said: “There were flames coming out the back windows and all kinds of popping and banging noises. At first I was annoyed and thought someone was creating a nuisance, but now I realise it was maybe gas boilers and appliances exploding.
“I heard shouting and commotion and we realised it was John ‘Boy’ out front. Thankfully he was safe and soon getting help from the emergency services.
“It was very scary.”
