A pair of hero brothers have been hailed after pulling two people from a burning building in Kinross.
Aaron Miller, 29, of Kincardine and Kieran Miller, 26, of Falkirk, twice braved intense heat and smoke to help residents out of the three-storey block on August 5 before firefighters arrived.
One resident hadn’t even realised the building was on fire until the brothers kicked his door down.
Their heroic efforts have since earned them high praise from relatives who said the pair overcame their own fears to help others.
Smoke billowed from the three-storey block on Kinross High Street after the blaze broke out in a top floor flat at around 10am.
More than a dozen firefighters were needed to tackle the flames.
‘We have to go pal’
The brothers, who were repairing plumbing and heating systems nearby, saw smoke billowing through the roof and immediately sprang into action.
They rushed towards the flat as a crowd gathered nearby.
The pair immediately raced up to the top floor and helped a shocked resident to safety.
They then went back into the building to alert the second man, who was asleep on the middle floor.
Kieran said: “We went to get a coffee when we saw smoke. We thought that it was too much smoke for like a chimney.
“We were told ‘it’s not your job’ to go up but we thought by the time the fire service came people could be dead.
“We helped the man on the top floor. He was just in shock and shaking and we said ‘We have to go pal’.
“We went back up to get things and we saw another door.
“I started punching the door but I couldn’t get it open so my brother kicked the door down.
“The person inside was sleeping and he asked what was happening, and I told him the close was on fire.
“So we helped him to get some of the sentimental things as well.”
He added: “It was just by chance we were there – it’s just strange.”
‘Heroic deeds’
Their father Michael Miller says they acted heroically despite their own fears.
He said: “I’m aware that both of my sons were frightened by the very obvious and immediate dangers and feared for their lives as they twice entered the smoke filled burning building to save the occupants within.
“I firmly believe that Aaron and Kieran’s heroic deeds saved local people from a death-threatening incident.
“Both of my sons have very young families and put the safety of others before their own and their families.”
“I looked out and was shocked to see a lot of smoke coming from the roof.”
Mandy Shepard.
Mandy Shepard, who owns Mandy’s Hairdresser’s witnessed the blaze from her salon just yards from the block of flats.
She said: “I was cutting a client’s hair when I noticed people in the street stopping and pointing up.
“I looked out and was shocked to see a lot of smoke coming from the roof.
“Within minutes, the smoke turned to flames. It was terrifying to watch.”
It is unclear how the blaze started but it is understood it broke out in the flat before spreading to the roof space.
Access to the apartment via a narrow spiral staircase is also understood to have hampered the situation for firefighters first to enter the scene.