Chesterfield man praised after running into smoke-filled properties to help residents to safety after house blaze

Pj Challenger, 34, was on his way home from the school run when he noticed smoke coming from a terrace house on Newbold Road at around 8.52am on Monday, September 27.

Without thinking, he rushed into the adjoining properties in an attempt to rescue anyone trapped inside.

Pj has since been commended for his bravery – but the plumber insists it was just instinct.

He said: “It just needed to be done. I’m probably not known for thinking things through to be fair so there wasn’t a whole lot of thought that went into it.

"It was just a case of there’s a fire, let’s see if there is anybody or anything in there that needs to get out. That was it.

"There’s probably a lot of thanks to go to a lot of people. I didn’t pick up a phone to ring the fire brigade.

"It was just a community pulling together and doing their bit. I am quite tall so if anybody was going to take the doors out, it was going to be me. It was just a joint effort.”

Recalling the day, Pj revealed he initially thought the smoke was coming from a chimney fire but soon realised it was much worse after it became increasingly harder to see while driving down the road.

"I just pulled over and ran across,” he said. “There was a lady on the phone and there was another gent who had got his mum out a couple of doors down.

"They’d not heard anything from the other three houses, so it was just a case of getting people out really.

"We got one lady out of the farthest one along which seemed to take forever as she was in bed reading a book bless her. Then there were two other doors; I don’t think I could have lived with myself not knowing for sure if anyone was in there or not.

"They weren’t answering and there were all kids pictures on the wall, so I just had to see. That was the first door I kicked in.

"I went upstairs and the whole ceiling was shaking. I could feel the heat coming through from next door which made me think the fire was definitely next door.

"That’s when I knew I had to run down the stairs and get straight in next door to see if anyone was in there.”

Luckily, the family in the adjacent property to blaze were also on the school run at the time.

A cannabis grow was discovered in the house where the fire started and it is believed the building was unoccupied.

But Sarah Rouse, whose mother-in-law Kate was rescued by PJ, said: “What a hero. Kate can't thank him enough for his kindness.”

Pj’s wife, Hannah Challenger, has also expressed pride for her husband – although he says she didn’t quite believe his actions at first.

He said: “Honestly she didn’t believe me. I rang her and said it’s really surreal what just happened. Later she just said ‘oh my god, I’ve seen the pictures’. I just said yes, it was like I said!”

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