Bystanders rush to save man on fire

The man is in Middlemore Hospital with burns covering much of his body. Photo / APN

The quick actions of bystanders may have saved the life of a 20-year-old Napier man who suffered serious burns in a petrol fire.

The man is in a serious but stable condition in Middlemore Hospital with burns covering much of his body.

He was working on a car with friends on Friday afternoon in the suburb of Onekawa when fuel exploded in a 20-litre container of petrol nearby.

Witnesses said a spark from the car battery lit the petrol.

Fiona Browne, who works at Drain Care, heard the noise and saw the young man running towards her. She grabbed a tarpaulin and smothered the flames. Workers from the panelbeaters next door put out the rest of the fire with fire extinguishers.

"He came running towards my workshop and I threw the cover on him," she said. "We spent the next five minutes pouring cold water over the poor boy."

It was a relief to hear that he was still alive, she said. Everyone in the area responded quickly and she hoped that had given him a chance.

Neighbouring panelbeater Darren Hedley heard the man's panicked screams and, with his cousin Darryl, helped extinguish flames.

"They'd just put him out when I got there, he'd been screaming his lungs out," Darren Hedley said. The pair put out flames which had engulfed the driveway and wall next to their shop.

"We didn't know someone had been burnt at first because there was so much fire and black flames," Darryl Hedley said.

The two men credit those first on the scene for saving the man's life.

"If it wasn't a Friday afternoon with lots of people around, he'd be dead," Darryl Hedley said.

"Fiona, the woman who put the tarp over him and put him out, well, if it wasn't for her - it all happened so fast."

Carissa McIsaac was on the phone when she heard a "massive explosion" and saw the man engulfed in flames. She got a bucket from her storage unit to pour water on him. A hose was brought over a fence and the two women focused on keeping him cooled down until emergency services arrived.

The Fire Service was first to arrive, with two appliances from Napier responding. Officers helped bystanders cool him until an ambulance arrived.

St John Ambulance treated the man for critical burns.

He was transported to Hawkes Bay Hospital and then transferred to the National Burns Unit at Middlemore.

- APN