A HOMELESS man suffered minor burns after a fire started in a shed in which he was living.
The unnamed man was rescued by Jason Mather, 35, who spotted the shed on fire as he looked out of his girlfriend’s kitchen window in Upperthong.
He ran to the shed and saw a man inside and had to run at the door twice to force it open.
Mr Mather then pulled the homeless man out of the shed, only to discover part of his coat alight.
He was taken to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary for treatment for burns sustained during the fire, which happened in the garden of a property off Upperthong Lane.
Jason’s dad Clive Mather said: “It was at about 7.30am and he saw this fire from his girlfriend’s kitchen window.
“It was a large shed and a man had been living in it.
“Jason ran over towards the garden and he found the shed was well ablaze and the guy was screaming for help.
“Jason couldn’t open the door and he had to run at it twice before he could get it open.
“He pulled the man out and he was on fire. Thankfully there was some snow in the garden and he was able to roll in it.”
Because of the ice on the lane after last week’s snowfall, fire crews and an ambulance had to park further down the lane and carry the man away from the shed.
Crews from Huddersfield and Holmfirth fire stations were called to the incident.
Huddersfield fire station watch manager Chris Atkinson said: “Red watch were called to reports of a shed on fire.
“They attended with Holmfirth station and there was a report that somebody was living in the shed.
“The call stated the man had already been rescued from the shed.”
A spokeswoman for West Yorkshire Police said that the man was treated for minor injuries, including some burns, adding: “Officers spoke to him and we are treating it as accidental damage after a fire investigation found that the cause of the fire was an accident.”
