Heroic efforts were witnessed at a high-rise building after a major fire broke out, with two people being rescued by a crane.
On the morning of 23 November 2023, Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) responded to reports of a significant blaze at a construction site at Station Hill in Reading, dispatching 50 firefighters to the scene from stations from across the county.
On arrival, crews found that the fire was coming from the 12th and 13th floors of a high-rise building that was under construction, with thick plumes of black smoke surrounding the area. RBFRS later confirmed that two people had been rescued by a crane and placed in the care of the South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS).
Footage of the rescue mission captured by onlookers from the street and neighbouring buildings shows the heroic efforts of a crane operator who was able to rescue one man who had become trapped by the flames from the roof of the building. Speaking to reporters, Glen Edwards said:
“I was no more than 20 metres up in the air and I looked out my left-hand window and saw a guy standing on the corner of the building.
“I’d only just seen him and someone said, ‘Can you get the cage on?’, so that was it, I got the cage on and got it over to him the best I could. It was quite windy conditions. I would say it was a very close call, if you look at the video at the way the wind was swirling around there.
“I tried to put the cage down between him and the flames, but I was hampered by the wind swirling around there. But I got the cage down and I managed to get him in there.”
While all other people had been accounted for, the two people who were rescued were taken to hospital for treatment for smoke. A spokesperson for SCAS said: “I can confirm we’ve taken two people to the Royal Berkshire Hospital for further assessment and treatment for smoke inhalation, neither of whom were severe cases.
“We are now on stand-by supporting the fire service (which is a standard operational procedure when they are working at height and at scale).”
Fire crews were able to extinguish the blaze by mid-afternoon, scaling back their resources and dampening down hotspots at the site.
Wayne Bowcock, Chief Fire Officer of RBFRS, applauded the crane operator’s actions, saying that it had been an “incredibly skilful rescue under extremely difficult circumstances". He added that "without their actions, we may be looking at an entirely different scenario".
“On behalf of the Service, I would like to extend our best wishes to the two people who were rescued from the building and wish them a speedy recovery,” he added.
The high-rise building is believed to be part of a redevelopment project at Station Hill. Later that day, Redwood Consulting stated: "We can confirm that a fire took place on the Station Hill construction site this morning.
"We activated our fire emergency plans immediately, the emergency services were notified and are currently on site.
"The safety of those on site and the wider public is always our first priority and the site has been evacuated as a result. As soon as we have more information, we will provide an update."
(Photograph by Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service)