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Awards for police officers who saved four from Walsall blaze

Three police officers have been hailed for rescuing people from a blazing building in Walsall after a late-night chip-pan supper sparked a major fire.

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PCs Andrew Pond and Helen Barnett were in the Chuckery area of Walsall in the early hours of July 10 last year when they heard screams from a flat behind Rowley Street.

They found smoke billowing from a flat and a woman trying to escape the flames by clambering through a small bathroom window.

PC Barnett tended to the woman while PC Pond, joined by fellow Walsall Police response officer PC Ben Cooper, crawled inside and managed to pull another woman and two men to safety after finding them trapped in a bedroom.

The occupants ? women aged 42 and 48, and men aged 41 and 46 ? were taken to hospital suffering the effects of smoke inhalation but made a full recovery.

At a West Midlands Police awards ceremony on Thursday the heroic trio were presented with Chief Constable's Awards in recognition of their bravery.

PC Pond said: "I saw through the kitchen window that the fire had taken hold and smoke had filled the flat. I shouted up on my radio for the fire service to attend but it was a case of every second counts so I knew I had to act before they arrived.

"I tried pushing open the front door open but it was locked so I grabbed a door 'enforcer' ? like a small battering ram ? from our patrol car and smashed my way inside.

"I crawled along the floor to stay below the smoke but it was so thick it was hard to see…I got to the kitchen where I could see flames coming from the cooker. I used a small fire extinguisher from our police car but the flames were too big.

"The woman was still screaming that her friends were inside. Ben joined us and we crawled back inside to the bedroom where we found three more people in bed and pulled them out of the flat."

Fire investigators concluded the blaze ? which largely destroyed the flat ? had been caused by a chip pan being left unattended on the kitchen hob.

PC Helen Barnett, added: "At the start of every shift you never know what you're going to face…and this was a classic example. We were at an address to check on the welfare of a man following a domestic incident but the next minute were up against a major fire and people trapped inside.

"The fire investigation said that without our help the occupants may not have survived; that's what policing is all about, keeping our communities safe and protecting the public, and all three of us went home after that shift knowing it was a job well done."

Chief Constable's Awards are given to officers for outstanding acts of police work.

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