Alert neighbor saves sleeping man from house fire in Zottegem

A Zottegem resident narrowly avoided a potentially fatal incident after falling asleep while cooking, filling his home with smoke. The man had placed a pan on the stove before dozing off in his living room, leading to the food burning and generating a significant amount of smoke.

Fortunately, a vigilant neighbor noticed the smoke emanating from the house and promptly alerted the emergency services. Firefighters from the Zottegem post arrived at the scene, but the man remained asleep despite the sound of the sirens.

Firefighters were compelled to force entry into the home to reach the sleeping occupant. They successfully roused the man and persuaded him to exit the residence, where he received initial medical attention. He did not require hospitalization.

While no active fire needed extinguishing inside the house, the fire department focused on ventilating the smoke-filled property. The incident led to a temporary closure of Hospitaalstraat for approximately one hour during the emergency response.

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Therefore, we had to break down the door