James Abbott and Matthews Simmonds

We have great pleasure in recognising James Abbott and Matthew Simmonds for their acts of bravery.

James and Matthew are both plasterers and in November 2021 they were driving home from work having just finished a job in Glyn Ceiriog. Whilst driving, they noticed a huge fire adjacent to the road, initially thinking it was a fire in a garden.

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Quickly they realised it was actually a bungalow on fire and immediately stopped. From the road they could see a distressed looking couple outside, who were shouting “get help”.

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Both of them ran up the rocky path to the home where they were told that there was still someone inside. They ran into the bungalow where the smoke was so thick at this point that they could only see their own feet and could hardly breathe.

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Hearing talking, they made their way towards the sound, only to discover an elderly lady with a torch, confused and desperately trying to telephone for help. She was trying to use a phone that didn’t work, looking through a phone book.

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They told her that she needed to get out quickly, as her house was on fire. They struggled to make their way out as the kitchen next to that room was also on fire and thick smoke was billowing through the door, visibility was dreadful and they could only see about a foot off the floor.

Having managed to rescue the elderly lady, by guided her out of the bungalow, they could see her hair and hands were burnt and her clothes had melted.

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Then they heard someone shouting ” there’s gas bottles at the back” and as they looked, another elderly woman came out of the back door, she didn’t seem to believe her house was on fire when they told her.

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They helped her down the steps and by now, in just a couple of minutes, flames were devouring the front door.

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James and Matthew’s quick thinking and bravery, risking their lives, undoubtably saved the lives of the two residents. Once the fire crew were on site, it took 20 firefighters to tackle the blaze. They have recently been awarded the Civic Pride Award, presented to them by the Mayor, Councillor Ronnie Price and we would like to also recognise their selfless, courageous actions.

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Well done Matthew and James!