3:57pm Wednesday 17th March 2010
By Jack Royston
A PINNER man saved his friend from a burning flat after a gas cylinder blew up in his hands.
Hero Mark Hornibrook dragged the hot metal cylinder out of his home, in Bridge Street, at around 9pm on Monday, in a desperate attempt to stop the blaze spreading.
But as he got outside it exploded in his hands and instead of waiting for an ambulance the brave 36-year-old raced back into the dark flat, through thick smoke to save flatmate Sophie.
He then went back again to rescue eight-month-old tabby cat Baba.
His act of self-sacrifice has left him on morphine in intensive care at Northwick Park Hospital and he may need plastic surgery once he recovers.
Sister-in-law Alison Hornibrook said: “He's so brave, to go back in there for the girl and the cat.
“He said it was just so black in there and he went in through the darkness. He got the cylinder outside when it blew up. He's just lucky he got it outside or we might not have Mark anymore.”
Brother Clive Hornibrook, 51, Alison's husband, said: “If he had waited three or four more seconds he might not have made it, but that's just what Mark's like.”
Mark, who works as a carpet fitter, has no sense of smell and there was no smoke alarm fitted in the flat so by the time he noticed the fire it had engulfed the gas cylinder and a nearby mattress.
He and girlfriend Ania had been decorating the property and, with only one room left to go, had said they would fit an alarm once they had finished.
Mark, a member of the Harrow Apollo Choir, is a passionate piano player in the style of rock and roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis, but Alison is worried the severe burns on his hands may force him to give up the hobby.
He was in the process of writing a song to play at niece Claire's wedding in May but may now not be able to perform.
He was also due to sing in a performance of Fiddler on the Roof at the Questors Theatre, in Ealing, starting today.
His father and Ania are said to be “devastated” by what happened and have been by his bedside.
Alison said: “When we got up to the hospital that night it was just total disbelief. They took us through to the resuscitation room and you just think 'what am I going to find'.
“Even then he was saying 'I got Sophie out, I got the cat out'. I said he should have left the cat but he couldn't. He was just determined to get them out.”
Paul O’Shea, watch manager at Harrow Fire Station, said: “We’d advise everyone to ensure they have a working smoke alarm on every level of their home.
“An alarm is the easiest way to alert you to the danger of fire, giving you precious time to escape. They are cheap, easy to get hold of and easy to fit.”
The fire was under control by 10.50pm and the cause is under investigation.
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