TWO heroic brothers who dashed into a burning house to save a woman have spoken about the terrifying moment.

Lee and Jamie David, from Crossways, leapt into action when they spotted smoke billowing out of a house in the West Dorset village.

The pair were walking home on December 28 at around 6.40pm when they managed to rescue a woman from the house and led her to safety, before firefighters arrived and extinguished the fire.

The woman, believed to be in her late 40s, was treated by paramedics at the scene for smoke inhalation, but did not need hospital treatment.

It took firefighters around 30 minutes to extinguish the blaze.

Talking of the moment they rushed into the house, Lee said: “Me and my brother had been at our friend’s house having a few Christmas drinks and on our way back home, as we walked round the corner, we saw someone beating and banging on the door.

“We couldn’t see flames but when we got closer we could see the smoke and went back over the road away from the house.

“We could see the smoke billowing out and somebody said there was someone in there, and we just looked at each other and we knew that we had to go in.”

The pair managed to gain access to the house, pulled their jumpers up over their noses, and rushed in.

With Lee leading and Jamie holding on to his brother’s shoulder, the duo checked every room downstairs before going upstairs and finding the woman in a room.

Lee continued: “We heard her shouting and managed to get into the room she was in.

“My brother managed to pick her up and take her out, and I went back into the kitchen to open the door to let the smoke out.

“There was a lot of smoke in the house, it was really thick and black. We all coughed and spluttered after we got out, but I can still feel and smell it now in my nose.”

A spokesman for Dorset Fire and Rescue Service said that three fire engines, two from Dorchester, and one from Weymouth, attended the incident and firefighters wearing breathing apparatus and using hose reel jets battled the blaze.

Lee said that if the situation arose again, he would have no hesitation rushing in to help.

He added: “It’s a small community, we all know each other and I’d do it again,
“It could have been very dangerous if we hadn’t gone in because the smoke was so thick. I was in there for four maybe five minutes and when I came out I was exhausted and coughing everywhere.”