Courageous Local Police officers rescue German couple from house fire following power blackout in Spain

Local Police officers Diego Blancat and Constable Alejandro Ortiz became the heroes of the day in Torrox on the eastern Costa del Sol on Tuesday 29 April when they rescued a German couple, the Gunters, aged 74 and 73, from their burning house. Last Thursday the policemen met up with the couple, who thanked them "deeply" for their bravery.

In fact, had it not been for the speed with which the two officers acted, the situation could have ended in tragedy. Blancat explained to SUR that when they arrived at the property, located in the La Dehesa area, close to the access road to the A7 motorway and the BP petrol station, they found "huge flames and a lot of smoke coming out of the garage on the ground floor of the building".

The blaze was so fierce that the flames caused a large plume of smoke, which billowed into the house. The fire originated in the garage area of the house shortly before 6am, just a few hours after the electricity supply was restored after the historic blackout on Monday 28 April.

The flames spread to part of the house and completely burnt many items in the garage of the couple who have lived in Torrox for several decades. The local police received a call for help from a neighbour, who said that his friend had phoned him and told him that the house was on fire and that he and his wife were inside.

When officers arrived, a local resident was trying to extinguish the flames with a hose pipe without success. The officers observed a 74-year-old man on the upstairs landing of the house, trapped by the flames coming out of the burnt part of the house and the heavy smoke.

Ortiz and Blancat rescued the man who told them that his 73-year-old wife was also inside the house in the living room. Without hesitation and despite the heavy smoke, they entered the building and managed to get her out as well. The couple were in shock but did not require medical attention. They have now recovered and have thanked the two policemen for their "courageous action".

Moments later, alerted by the Local Police force in Torrox, a crew from the Nerja fire station arrived on the scene. It took firefighters around three hours to completely put out the fire. The main hypothesis points to an electrical fault in the house after the restoration of the supply after the historic blackout last Monday.

Officer Diego Blancat had to be taken by his colleague to the health centre in Torrox to be treated for minor smoke inhalation. The officers also thanked a local resident for his help in the rescue of the German couple.