Heroic neighbours swim through Curdies River to save elderly neighbour from fire

Hexham's Dougal Ranken, 32, was at his brother-in-law Tom Harrison's house in Curdievale on February 22 doing cattle work when he spotted smoke about 7.30pm.

"I followed my dad to where it was and when we got to the outside of the (Curdies) river, we could see the smoke and flames and could hear a lady calling out 'help!'," he told The Standard.

"As quickly as I could I jumped in and swam across the river to her house."

Mr Ranken found the woman in her 80s with a hose trying to save her home.

"I ran up to her and checked she was OK before trying to move her away to a safer place," he said.

"Luckily she said she didn't get a puff of smoke in her at all."

Mr Ranken said when he jumped in and swam across the river, he didn't know what he was going to find on the other side.

"I could hear her yelling for help but didn't know if she was going to be in or out of the house," he said.

"I just knew I had to get over there to make sure she was OK."

Mr Harrison said he was putting his son to bed when his father-in-law rang and alerted them to the smoke.

"(Dougal) went across the river first and found her," he said.

He said the water was so deep they couldn't touch the bottom.

"I got there about five minutes after my brother-in-law. Then a few of the other neighbours came across," Mr Harrison said.

He said an off-duty paramedic was swimming in the river nearby and she came up to help.

"She put her paramedic hat on and we left her to look after (the victim)," he said.

Mr Harrison said the home was destroyed.

"When we got there about two-thirds of the house was up in flames," he said.

"But she was out and happy and so was I."

Cobden police Sergeant Craig Jenkins said Cobden and Terang police attended the Curdievale property about 8.15pm alongside Ambulance Victoria and CFA.

"Seven tankers attended with three support units from local fire brigades," he said.

"The fire was extinguished within 30 minutes and then the site was made safe. Being a house fire, there were a lot of toxins and chemicals and it was a considerable and strong effort from the CFA.

"Fortunately it didn't burn too long and was well-controlled. No neighbouring properties were endangered thanks to the swift response from the CFA. They did a great job to bring the fire under control."

Sergeant Jenkins praised the bravery of the two men.

"This is a fantastic example of community spirit to assist their elderly neighbour in a time of crisis," he said.

"The woman was assessed by paramedics at the scene. She was not injured and is now with her family and friends."

A CFA spokeswoman said 12 vehicles attended the house fire just after 7.30pm.

"Firefighters arrived to find the house well alight," she said.

"The one occupant of the home escaped unharmed."

The spokeswoman said the fire was brought under control just after 8.30pm and declared safe at 9.30pm.

"The cause is unknown and will be investigated today," she said.

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