Passer-by jumps fence to put out fire after elderly man accidentally sets garden alight

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A member of the public leaped into action when he saw a man’s porch going up in flames.

Ross Stallion didn’t let a fence stop him when he spotted black smoke billowing from a house in Bournemouth.

After asking the homeowner if he could help the 45-year-old scaled the boundary and sprang into firefighting mode.

Ross, who lives in the seaside town, captured the entire incident on camera and at one point dubbed himself ‘fireman Sam’ as he battled the flames.

The dramatic video shows the magazine owner initially grabbing a washing-up bowl to put the blaze out before upgrading to a garden hose.

He also urges the homeowner to leave the house in case the fire gets worse.

Speaking after the incident Ross said: ‘I’m so glad I was able to help him out – that’s a good feeling.

‘He just looked shocked. I could see he didn’t know what to do.

The fire got going very quickly (Picture: Ross Stallion / SWNS)

Ross Stallion said he’d do exactly the same again (Picture: Tom Wren / SWNS)

‘He was literally in this fire, just looking at it. I don’t think he realised what was happening until I said, “your house is on fire, you need help”.

‘I just ran in, at the time I didn’t know if the fire service had been called. His house would 100% have burned down if I hadn’t done that.

‘The whole back of his house was well alight, and would easily have gone up. It might have got the neighbour’s house as well.’

Ross was out test-driving his wife’s car with a potential buyer when he saw the fire in the Townsend area of Bournemouth at around 2:30pm on March 22.

He said the man, who he described as elderly, later explained that he was burning rubbish in a brassier when an aerosol mixed in with the waste caused it to explode.

Ross said the flames reached 20 foot tall (Picture: Ross Stallion/SWNS)

Ross said it took around a minute to put out the fire (Picture: Ross Stallion / SWNS)

The explosion caused burning chemicals to spray up the side of the wooden porch at the back of the house.

Ross said the flames licking the building had reached at least 20-foot tall when he arrived on the scene.

‘First I used his washing-up bowl of water to throw at the fire, and it created a massive ball of steam like a fireball,’ Ross said.

‘Then a neighbour passed a hose over the fence and I used that to put out the rest.

‘All the man’s neighbours were there so I knew it was okay to leave him.

‘I’m generally someone who would stop and help out.

Ross said he was generally ‘someone who would stop and help out’ (Picture: Tom Wren / SWNS)

‘I wouldn’t have done anything differently, and it definitely added some excitement to my day.’

Ross said it took around a minute to put out the fire at which point he returned to his car just as the fire brigade arrived.

He then returned home to his wife Gemma, 43, and their children.

A spokesperson for Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service confirmed firefighters from Christchurch, Redhill Park and Westbourne attended the fire at around 2.46pm on March 22.

They said: ‘[The fire] turned out to a be a fire within a brazier, which was extinguished using a hose reel jet.

‘There was slight damage to the rear of the property – our stop came at 3.02pm.’