A 60-year-old man was rescued from his bedroom window after a fire broke out at the front door of his flat.
The resident was alerted to the blaze, which happened at 4.50am, by a smoke alarm.
The former firefighter rang 999 from his mobile, and a call handler gave him advice including shutting doors and putting towels down.
When the fire engines arrived the found him sitting on the window ledge waiting to be rescued.
They used ladders and helped him down to safety, while other firefighters tackled the fire.
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