An Irish plumber was hailed as a hero after he plucked a woman from a blazing apartment block in Australia as flames engulfed the balcony where she was trapped.
Quick thinking Oisin Loughlin, 34, from Monaghan Town and his Aussie workmate Jack Kelly used their tradesman's ladder to save local woman Leanne Winters after the complex was torched in a suspected arson attack.
Leanne said: "I thought I was going to die. Thanks for being good Samaritans and saving me."
Oisin was driving to work early when he noticed smoke billowing from the building in South Perth.
He told the Irish Mirror: "It was crazy, within seconds I could see the flames shooting out the window.
"I pulled in and then heard a woman screaming from the balcony.
"I grabbed the ladder and just ran."
Just as Oisin was climbing the ladder there was a gas explosion in the building which fanned the blaze.
He said: "I was trying to get her on the ladder but then the flames started shooting out of the patio behind her.
"They were at her back. It was scary stuff."
Oisin said it was difficult to get Leanne onto the ladder as acrid black smoke poured from the blazing apartment.
He said: "It was panic stations to be honest. You don't have time to think.
"The woman was screaming and in shock."
Once the woman was safely on the ground, Oisin, Jack and other tradesmen who arrived at the scene, then began trying to isolate the gas supply to stop the blaze spreading to other blocks.
He said: "The fire brigade arrived and we had to leave because we were late for work at that stage."
He's been living and working in Perth for more than seven years after work dried up at home.
He and his wife Catherine O'Brien, who is also from Monaghan Town, were celebrating their second wedding anniversary on Monday - the same day Oisin was hailed a hero for saving a woman's life.
A man has been arrested and will appear in court in connection with the suspected arson attack.
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