Kevin Tormey has been heralded a hero by his neighbours after saving a woman’s life from her burning home.
Kevin Tormey stood bashing on the bedroom window of a Futcher Court, Sale, unit where inside, the female resident lay sleeping as thick black smoke inundated the home.
“Ev (wife) was the first one who noticed the fire,” Mr Tormey said.
Standing at her kitchen sink at about 2.30pm on Monday, January 9, Eveyln Tormey suddenly caught a whiff of smoke.
“I came out here (outside), and it was out the back there, a big puff of black smoke,” Mrs Tormey said, pointing to the cindered unit.
“I called to Kevin and said ‘Kev, there’s a fire’, that’s when he ran out.”
Mr Tormey alerted his surrounding neighbours, hastily making his way to the burning unit’s bedroom window upon realising the female resident remained inside.
Flames lipped over the roof’s edge at the rear of the unit as the fire quickly spread, black smoke now pouring onto the street, blanketing neighbouring yards. Heat radiated from the property as flames devoured everything in their path.
Many would flee, their safety now jeopardised, but not Mr Tormey. The 81-year-old neighbour frantically banged on the bedroom window until the female resident stumbled out of the front door with her dog. She was safe.
As Mr Tormey stepped away from the burning home, following the female resident, the bedroom window behind him, the bedroom window he had stood banging at to save the life inside, exploded, glass and searing heat violently spearing past him.
A terrified Mrs Tormey watched her husband of 60 years, the father to their six children, grandfather to their 24 grandchildren and great-grandfather to their 42 great-grandchildren, as he risked his life to help another.
“She has come out with the dog, half asleep, and just ran out,” Mrs Tormey said.
“By the time he got her out, the whole back end of the house was on fire.
“If Kevin hadn’t done that, she would have died.
“I was yelling at Kev to come away, but he knew she was in there, so it’s only natural he would try and save her.”
Despite having lived through the Ash Wednesday bushfires, one of Australia’s worst bushfires in history, Mr and Mrs Tormey had never seen smoke so black and so thick as they did at the Futcher Court unit fire last Monday afternoon.
“The black smoke; the smoke was the worst,” Mr Tormey said.
“I don’t know what was making it so black, but it was so thick you could hardly see.”
In the days following the fire, Mr Tormey presented to Sale Hospital after waking to blood on his pillowcase.
“Two days after, he woke up, and there was blood on the pillowcase, so I took him straight to the doctor,” Mrs Tormey said.
“He has had an x-ray, and they said in a couple of days, if it is too hard to breathe, he has got some very strong steroids to take to try and clear the lungs.”
Resident Joe Lambourn, who has been in his Unit for more than 30 years; is among the Futcher Court residents hailing Mr Tormey a hero.
“He deserves to be recognised for what he did,” Mr Lambourn said.
“Kev, who should never have been put in this position, came and alerted me, alerted our other neighbour Kayleen before going to [the unit] to get her [the female resident] out.
“It was so scary; he risked his life; he was so bloody lucky, half a second longer at that window, and who knows what would have happened? It literally exploded the second he stepped away.
“He then came over to help me with the fire.”
Mr Lambourn and Mr Tormey laid on the roof of an adjacent Futcher Court Sale unit with water hoses, attempting to prevent the blaze from reaching Mr Lambourn’s home of 32 years.
“He didn’t have to do what he did,” Mr Lambourn said.
“Kev is a bloody hero.”
More than 10 Futcher Court residents, their partners and families gathered around Kevin in front of what once was a Unit on Futcher Court, Sale on Friday morning.
The smell emanating from the blackened cindered frame remained pungent; you could taste the bitterness with each breath. Eyes stung as the fumes continued to discharge from the burnt remains of the Futcher Court unit.
Mr and Mrs Tormey moved to Futcher Court Sale in July last year.
The couple had previously lived in the court for four years, only moving because of the delinquent behaviours of the residents in the now-razed unit.
Futcher court residents, their partners, family and a former local taxi driver detailed an extensive list of troubling behaviours from the residents over the last four years, including drugs, violence, multiple fires and frequent visits from police.
Despite claims from multiple residents who heard the male and female arguing loudly earlier in the morning, the fire is not being treated as suspicious.
Police said, “emergency services were called to a house fire in Sale on Monday, January 9”.
“The fire caused significant damage to the property when it caught alight just after 3pm. No one was injured.
“The cause of the fire is being investigated however at this stage, it’s not being treated as suspicious.
“Anyone who witnessed the incident or with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.”
