Hero off-duty firefighter rescues young boy trapped in house fire

Russ Jones rushed over to help after seeing an orange glow coming from a house in Farren Road, Northfield, on Thursday.

After calling the fire service control room, Russ was told that the boy was missing in the property.

Hearing screams as the fire blazed on the first floor, the firefighter of 24 years decided the youngster must have been on the ground floor and started looking through windows.

After spotting a curtain moving in the front room, he looked closer to see the boy lying on the floor by the window.

Russ then smashed the window with a rock quickly removed some of the glass and then leaned in to pull the child to safety.

Eight of his colleagues from Northfield Fire Station joined him at the scene minutes later along with five firefighters from Kings Norton and another five from Woodgate Valley.

The boy was treated for minor injuries by West Midlands Ambulance Service and then transferred to Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

Russ said any firefighter would have done the same faced with a similar situation.

“As soon as I saw the fire and was told a young child missing in the property, I had to do something," he said.

"Without my firefighting kit there it was too dangerous for me to enter the property, so I had to find a way of trying to locate the boy and rescue him. I’m just so grateful I did and that he is ok.

“I did what any of my colleagues would have done in the same situation. I’m a dad myself, so I’m just so grateful I managed to locate the boy and get them out of the property.”

Marc Hudson, group commander at West Midlands Fire Service, said: “The swift and selfless actions of Firefighter Jones represent the very best of West Midlands Fire Service.

"We’re very proud of Russ for saving the young boy’s life, had he not acted so quickly and professionally, this incident may have ended in tragedy."

Fire investigators who attended the scene confirmed the fire was started accidentally.