Firefighter’s £500k claim
A HERO fireman badly burned trying to save a woman from a blazing house is seeking to claim £500,000 compensation from his bosses.
Ian Tape, 34, suffered horrific 35 per cent burns in the inferno in February last year.
Homeowner Carmel O’Neil was rescued but died later in hospital.
Fellow firefighter Grant Baugh suffered 12 per cent burns.
In a High Court writ, Mr Tape alleges South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service failed to provide properly working radios and says his call for help was not answered.
He also claims colleagues “wrongly” sprayed the fire, caused by a discarded cigarette, with water while he was inside, intensifying the heat. The writ states: “He will never work as a firefighter again.”
South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue has agreed to pay him damages, but added: “The process of quantifying Ian’s claim is ongoing.”