KORORA local WAYNE Brown is being honoured with a District Commander’s Certificate of Appreciation following an incident where he entered a burning home.

Wayne was nominated for the award by the Coffs/Clarence Police District Awards Committee.

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Sharing his story, Wayne told News Of The Area, “It was a Sunday afternoon and we were making our way to the C.ex Club in Coffs to play the Sunday raffles and had been picked up by the C.ex hospitality bus.

“Heading down the back of West Coffs the driver picked up a passenger and when heading up the hill, we saw straight ahead at the intersection a house was on fire – at this stage just billowing black smoke out of the bedrooms.

“I asked the driver to stop as it seemed odd that a bystander was just standing there not doing anything at all which seemed strange.

“I asked the driver to ring 000 then opened up the passenger door, jumped out and ran to the front door yelling out to see if anyone was inside.

“I noticed a wall had just been kicked in which seemed odd again.

“I went inside to the lounge, no one answered me, so I walked out and within a couple of metres of leaving the house, the fire exploded, windows blew out and the house was totally engulfed.

“The bystander was still standing there and as I approached, he started walking away.

“When firefighters arrived, they happened to find several kittens who had survived in the laundry.

“I had a good description of the bystander which I gave to the police a couple of days later and as a result they found him, and he was arrested for arson.”

Once Wayne had returned to the bus, everyone carried on to the club not really thinking anything of it as no one was hurt.

“In hindsight it was just the natural thing to do – I didn’t think twice about entering the house – it’s just what you do,” said Wayne.

Superintendent Steve Clarke will be presenting Wayne with his award from Coffs/Clarence Police District at the presentation ceremony on Wednesday 23 March 2022 at Coffs Harbour C.ex.

By Andrea FERRARI