Man dies trying to save neighbour from blaze

A man died in a failed attempt to rescue his neighbour from a house fire, it emerged today.

Both Eamon Bradley and Ann McBride were killed trying to flee a burning bungalow in Derry, Northern Ireland.

Fire crews found their bodies just behind the front door of the end terrace property.

Friends and relatives praised Mr Bradley’s bravery after learning he rushed to Ms McBride’s aid.

The woman phoned him after discovering a blaze had broke out at her home in Cashel Hill Park.

His brother, Seamus, said Mr Bradley had been helping her in recent weeks.

“She’d been having problems. He had been fitting locks to her house for security reasons,” he said.

“He got a phone call to say she had taken a fit and collapsed and when she woke up the bedroom was on fire. He went up to try to pull her out.”

It is understood the blaze started in one of the two bedrooms at around 3.30am.

District Fire Commander Willie Lynch said the dense smoke would have overwhelmed the victims.

“Gases given off go for the nervous system and you just collapse,” he insisted.

“You could be making your way to the door and thinking I can make this but all of a sudden the lights go out, it hits you that quick.

“The man and woman were dead when our firefighters found them. They had definitely been trying to escape.”

A smoke alarm had been fitted in the house but it was unclear whether it had gone off. No one else was in the property, where Ms McBride lived alone.

Although the cause of the fire was still under investigation, fire chiefs believe it may have started accidentally.