By Laura Michell
Fast-acting police officers pulled a man to safety following a house fire in Jacana.
Constable Darcy Elliott and First Constable Grant Jordan, from Broadmeadows Police Station, were the first on the scene of the Pascoe Vale Road fire on January 15.
The officers were responding to reports of black smoke billowing from a house about 10.30am.
They arrived at the property to find the carport engulfed in flames, with the blaze beginning to spread to the house.
They then spotted a man in danger at the rear of the property.
The 78-year-old was attempting to get back into the house to rescue his pet dog.
Constable Elliott said he and First Constable Jordan pulled the man to safety as his life was deemed to be in danger.
“We noticed the man trying to get into a door of the house right near the fire,” he said.
“The fire was raging so my partner and I had to take the man to safety out the front of the property.”
The man and his dog were both uninjured.
Acting Inspector Tania Gallagher credited the professional response of Constable Elliott and First Constable Jordan.
“The attending police have acted quickly and courageously,” she said.
“Fortunately both the occupant of the house and responding members have been able to walk away from this highly dangerous situation uninjured.”
The fire caused substantial damage to the carport and the rear of the house.
The MFB said crews took an hour to control the blaze, with an aerial appliance used to stop the spread of the fire in the property’s roof.
The cause of the fire is being investigated.
