News

Bravery win over rescue

A BANKSTOWN police officer has been presented with a commendation for brave conduct after helping rescue a man from a burning house in Punchbowl in 2015.

In the late evening of July 31, 2015, police officers from the Bankstown Local Area Command were alerted to a domestic incident and house fire.
When they arrived on the scene, they found family members had managed to evacuate the house but that there was a man still inside.
Police were advised that the fire had started on the second floor, which was by now well alight, with smoke billowing from the windows.
Senior Constable Grant Haydon and two other police officers quickly entered the burning house to search for the male. He and another officer began to make their way through the ground floor while another officer went upstairs.
A distressed male was discovered upstairs by one of the officers who managed to get hold of him and shepherd him through the smoke and flames. When they reached the ground floor, Constable Haydon and the other officer joined their colleague and helped the distressed man to evacuate the burning house to safety.
Constable Haydon was one of 83 people to be recognised with a bravery award for their courage, sacrifice and selflessness.
Governor-General David Hurley says the awards recognise people who, in a moment of danger or threat, think of others ahead of their own safety.
“We celebrate their bravery and the example that they set, putting others before self and a willingness to help strangers, the vulnerable and those in danger in the most difficult of times.”