A pub owner says he’s lucky to be alive after a gas blast ripped the skin from his face and arms.
Ian Fawcett has spent three and a half weeks in hospital after gas from a boiler room leak ignited, causing horrific burns.
In a scene reminiscent of the film Backdraft, Ian, of the popular Water Wheel Inn and Carvery at Liverton Village, says he heard a “whoosh” and saw a blue flame roll towards him.
And having now been released from hospital, he wants to thank all the 999 and medical staff for their care and the pub staff for keeping the business going. He also wants to warn other people to check their boilers for problems.
The drama erupted at about 9.45pm on Monday, February 9 as, with the regular Monday quiz night under way, Ian went into the Water Wheel’s boiler room to turn the heating off.
He said: “I saw a blue flicker, or a reflection of one. Then I heard a quiet ‘whoosh’ and saw this blue cloud coming over.
“I went to get out as quickly as I could, but it came over and engulfed me.
“I knew instantly my face was burning. I didn’t even know I’d done my arms at that stage.
“It can only have taken a quarter of a second but if felt like 10 seconds or more - like it was in slow motion. I could see this blue cloud - not an orange flame - rolling across the ceiling.
“By opening the door, I’ve let the oxygen in, which is all it needed to erupt.
“If I’d missed the door handle, or if I’d have gone to turn the boiler off rather than trying to get out straight away, I wouldn’t be here now. I’m told that a couple of seconds longer and that would have been it, because my throat would have burned.”
In the passageway, Ian screamed to raise the alarm and began stripping off, fearing his clothes were alight. Helped by pub customers, he was rushed upstairs into a cold shower to try and soothe the burning.
After just eight minutes, a fire crew from the retained Loftus station arrived and, soon after, the ambulance, which took him to James Cook University Hospital.
Ian, 42, who lives at the pub, said any exposed skin was badly burned, with second degree burns on his face and arms which blistered severely.
His face also swelled up badly - part of the body’s defence mechanism to protect the eyes, nose and throat.
He said: “The worst part was when they ‘scrubbed’ all the affected skin off and left it open, leaving your raw nerves hitting air. I’ve never known pain like it - I was in tears. It literally was blood, sweat and tears.
“My big medicine now is moisturiser. And I’ll have to use a minimum factor 50 suncream for ever now .”
Ian, who has run the Water Wheel for 11 years, said he wanted to thank his friends for their support and the pub’s 11 staff, who ensured it was only closed for one night “and have all gone over and beyond what you’d expect.”
He also said he had “nothing but praise” for the fire and ambulance crews, and the staff at James Cook
And urging people to check their boilers, he said: “We were already looking at biomass boilers because we knew it was old, probably 30 years. We’d already got prices and were very close to buying a new one.
“I’d just say to people, if you think your boiler is old and on its way out, it probably is.
“And if this makes someone check their boiler, and saves someone from going through what I’ve gone through, that’ll do me.
“I know I’m lucky to be alive, and lucky to be able to tell people like my sister and dad that I love them.”
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