The swift actions of a neighbour resulted in two rescues from a Port Erin house that was on fire.

An elderly man and his dog on Grammah Avenue in the seaside village were saved after their next-door neighbour, Mark Seed, took action.

Mr Seed, aged 59, was first at the scene where he escorted the man - said to be in his 70s - from the burning house on Thursday.

Mark said: ’It was about 9.15pm, I was in the front room and I was watching my cat who was on the window sill. He’s recently had an operation on his leg so I was keeping an eye on him.

’I could just see the house across the road and the reflection on the window and I thought "that’s not a street light".

’I went outside and sure enough the living room next door was all in flames.

’I went round and the door was shut. I opened the door a bit and then opened it further back and [my neighbour] was sitting on the steps. I said: "You’ve gotta get out!". I think he was in shock, bless him.’

Once Mark escorted his neighbour, who lives on his own, outside he called the fire brigade, which arrived three to four minutes later.

That was when Mark noticed that Ben, the neighbour’s border collie, was missing.

’I asked: "Where’s your dog?" and he said: "He must be inside still",’ Mark said.

Four firefighters entered the building and hunted for the pet. Once found they brought him outside.

Using a specialised oxygen mask for dogs, which had been donated by charity Paws for Thought (Isle of Man), the fire crews helped Ben the dog get back on his feet again.

’I didn’t see them bringing him out. Another neighbour had called [the occupant’s] daughter and family around. It was a bit tough for them, so I had left them to it,’ Mark explained.

Fire crews extinguished the flames and the house was ventilated using a positive pressure fan. The occupier was treated for smoke inhalation by paramedics who were at the scene.

Station officer Tony Duncan said: ’The investigation into the cause of the fire is still ongoing. It’s nothing malicious and it’s not suspicious.’

He added that the occupant had not been admitted to hospital.

’He was taken care of by paramedics who were at the scene, but he was okay and stayed with family. The dog eventually came to. It wasn’t well and was very subdued as it had taken a lot of smoke in, but it got back on its legs.

’The fire service would like to thank the swift actions of neighbours who raised the alarm, helped the occupier to get to a place of safety and called the emergency services.’

The fire crews were in attendance for 90 minutes and were well looked after by another neighbour who made them cups of tea.

’I’ve lived here for 30 years,’ said Mark. ’There are nice neighbours here. Always has been.’

The following morning he had a look at the affected neighbour’s property to assess the damage.

’It’s all smoke damage in there. It was nowhere as bad as I thought it was going to be.’

Mark told the Examiner that when facing a situation where you have to save someone’s life, ’you just do it’.