Everybody needs good neighbours

A KEEN-EYED neighbour saved a family home from ruin after he spotted a fire in a back bedroom on Tuesday.
The neighbour of the house in Bellbird Close, Pakenham, called triple zero at 2.40pm before jumping a fence and tackling the fire with a garden hose.
Pakenham CFA operations officer Rick Read said the neighbour did a great job, as the residents weren’t home.
“We arrived to find a neighbour of the premises fighting the fire with a garden hose,” he said.
“He did a good job to eliminate some of the damage.”
Twenty-five firefighters battled the blaze for 15 minutes and managed to contain it to the one bedroom and veranda.
“We kept the fire in one bedroom which was a good effort by crews,” Mr Read said.
“It’s still bad news for the owners but good news in terms of containing the fire.”
Firefighters stayed on scene for a number of hours to clean up and ventilate the house.
The blaze caused about $100,000 worth of fire and smoke damage. Investigators are yet to determine the cause.