Sunshine man Rhett Stephens and his partner Rahela will receive a bravery award from the MFB. 68187
By Belinda Nolan
A SUNSHINE couple have been hailed as heroes after rescuing a family trapped in a ferocious house fire.
Rhett Stephens and partner Rahela will receive a bravery commendation from the Metropolitan Fire Brigade this month in recognition of their heroic actions which helped save the lives of a young couple.
The pair were living in Footscray on the night of 1 August when they were torn from their sleep by piercing screams.
The duo jumped out of bed and went to investigate.
To their horror, they found the apartment opposite was ablaze.
“At first we thought the noises we were hearing were our neighbour’s dog barking but then we realised it was actually screams for help,” Rhett told Star.
“The whole unit was on fire and there was black toxic smoke and flames pouring out.”
Unable to escape through their front door due to heavy flames, the couple clad only in their underwear, had begun climbing through the window in a desperate bid for safety.
While Rahela dialled triple zero, Rhett tore down a fence to get to the fire victims who shimmied down a sewerage pipe.
The Good Samaritan then broke the couple’s fall, as each took the three metre jump into his waiting arms.
The pair escaped in the nick of time with the flames blowing through the window within seconds of their jump.
A heroic Rhett risked his own life running upstairs to the unit and tried to force open the front door to ensure no one else was left inside.
MFB commanding officer Frank Besanko from the Hobsons Bay fire brigade said he had been staggered by the couple’s bravery.
Mr Besanko said the victims could have died or been seriously injured if no one had come to their rescue.
The couple helped house and clothe the victims in the hours following the fire.
“These were complete strangers and they went out of their way to help them and undoubtedly prevented them from receiving life threatening injuries,” Mr Besanko said.
“They are exceptional, giving people that have set a great example to others within the community.”
But the couple has remained humble about their actions.
“We certainly don’t consider ourselves to be heroes,” Rhett said.
“We just did what we had to do.
“The only thing that was going through my mind was that I had to make sure no one else was in that unit.”
The duo will receive their award during a ceremony at the Sunshine Fire Station on 25 August.
