Episode 9 Close Calls: On Camera

A close call - a moment of danger when life

can hang in the balance...

What would happen if I wasn't found or didn't find a way out of it?

..a split second when the outcome could go either way...

It's a choice - life or death.

..the difference between disaster and survival.

We saw a lady who was critically ill, if not dying, in front of us.

I kept thinking the hotel was going to fall on us.

These are the people that have been there and lived to tell the tale.

'It's a day they'll never forget.'

The day they had a close call.

Today on Close Calls...

Firefighters risk their lives to rescue a woman

trapped in her third-floor flat, as flames shoot up

the side of the building.

My head was outside trying to breathe in fresh air.

The heat was beginning to come through the floorboards.

She's being choked by the acrid smoke.

There are only seconds left to save her.

And three friends on the ultimate snowboarding adventure.

All pretty excited to be heading to Mount Cook

because the mountains there are pretty unridden.

But now one of them is lost in a massive avalanche,

fighting to survive.

It started getting heavier and darker.

I had snow jammed down my throat it was up my nose.

I really needed air, badly.

Sudbury in Suffolk.

The town is at a standstill.

A building is ablaze in the high street.

A passer-by films with a mobile phone

and spots a woman trapped inside.

The fire rips through the building.

The woman's life is in peril.

Firefighters must risk their own lives to save her.

A few of us realised if she didn't come out pretty soon,

we were probably going to lose her and the firefighter

at the top of the ladder.

Sudbury is a small, pretty market town in Suffolk.

It's home to Christina and her husband, Ellison,

who are originally from Zimbabwe.

I've been married since 1986, nearly 30 years now.

We have three children, all grown up,

and we have one granddaughter. She's nearly one.

After the kids grew up and left home,

Christina and Ellison moved to Sudbury.

They work together as well.

I do love my job.

We are care workers.

We look after people with learning disabilities, elderly people,

vulnerable people.

That's what we do.

And the couple found an ideal home in a flat above the shops,

right in the centre of town.

Yes, it was nice and warm.

We were settled in Sudbury.

We had no plans of moving at any time.

But their happy lifestyle is about to change.

It's a Sunday evening in September, coming up to 6.30pm.

My husband had just finished and I was in the kitchen preparing supper.

Christina and her husband live on the third storey

of an historic building on the attractive high street.

It has a charity shop and nail bar on the ground floor,

but because it's Sunday, both are closed.

Walking along the street with her boyfriend is Carly,

another Sudbury local.

As I walked past... I'm a little bit nosy and normally look

in the windows of the shops

and the nail bar was quite hazy as I walked past.

So we took a few steps back because I couldn't just leave it,

I had to be sure that it wasn't...

I then looked through the window to check

and there were flames in the back of the shop.

Carly immediately dials 999 to report the fire.

I didn't quite realise at that point how vast it was going to be

and how dangerous it was going to be.

In this rural area, all the firefighters are part-time.

When the alarm goes off, the crews on call

rush straight to their local stations.

Crew Commander Scott Powell is on the first fire engine out.

We turn to the station,

we get a ticket that just said "allocate building fire."

In the high street, the amount of smoke is increasing.

Carly and her boyfriend realised there are flats above it.

They shout desperately to alert anyone inside.

"Fire, fire," we would just... "Hello."

Anything that we could, just to create noise, loudly,

because the entrance of the flats was around the back.

Residents immediately start to leave the building.

But up on the top floor, Christina and her husband

are at the back of their flat with no idea of what's going on below.

That's when we heard the fire alarm go.

When my husband opened the door...

to the corridor, it was already filled with smoke

and thick black smoke.

Christina and her husband have a vital decision to make -

stay or go.

It was terrifying, it was terrifying.

I just didn't want to go into the smoke.

I thought it would be better if... I don't know.

I don't know what I think it was, I think survival mode or something.

I thought it was too dangerous.

He said, "Let's go."

Christina's husband plunges into the smoke

thinking she's right behind him.

But she isn't.

And he just went, I didn't follow him.

Just a metre from me and he was in the smoke.

I couldn't even see him, that's what made me go back inside.

Rooted to the spot with fear,

Christina then shuts the door to keep out the smoke.

And I was actually very afraid for him when I shut the door, thinking -

what has happened to him in that smoke?

Christina rushes to the living room window

at the front of the flat to see what's going on in the street.

She opened the window.

I couldn't quite hear what she had said to start with.

But we just shouted up, "It's a fire! Get out, get out!"

She said she couldn't get out, there was too much smoke.

So she couldn't get through.

I could see that they were very afraid for me.

I got halfway along the journey to the building

and we did get informed by our control room

it was now persons reported, that people were inside.

Suffolk Fire scale up their response and send every available engine.

At the scene, Christina's husband has reached safety

and discovered she's not with him.

But he can't go back to find her because of the heat and smoke.

He was screaming and shouting up at Christina.

Panicking, my husband, I could see him and one of my friends,

she was panicking as well.

A crowd has started to gather in the street, some have cameras.

From his flat, a man films as Scott's fire engine arrives.

On street level, someone else takes a photograph of Carly,

showing Scott where Christina is.

One of Scott's crew begins to tackle the fire with a hose.

Another passer-by keeps on filming with their mobile phone.

Christina can be seen in the top floor window, at least 30 feet up.

She was shouting and we did need to calm her down.

Gave a talk to her up there.

Because we didn't know what the circumstances was behind there.

My initial crew put a ladder up, a smaller ladder,

and we sent one of our firefighters up there just to comfort the lady

and talk through to the lady.

Taking somebody out of a window this high is always risky.

A fall onto the concrete below is likely to be fatal.

Scott knows another engine is on the way.

So whilst he waits, two crew members in breathing apparatus

smash the shop window and attack the blaze.

CRASHING

Another firefighter climbs up to Christina.

One of the firemen was talking to me and reassuring me

that they would get me out within touching distance.

But the heat's intensifying.

Suddenly, the two firefighters tackling the flames

are engulfed in smoke.

Off-camera, another fire engine has now arrived to help.

Crew Commander Danny is on board.

What we hadn't realised at that time was it was obviously

starting to spread through the back of the shops.

We hadn't been able to gain access to the rear of the premises

to see the extent of the damage so far.

A female member of the fire crew orders the crowd

to start moving back for their own safety.

Guys, move, please!

And not a moment too soon.

The back rooms of both shops are now ablaze.

The temperature is rising so high,

there's a potential of what is known as a flashover.

We have superheated gases where a lot of the materials

inside the building are heated by the fire,

but not necessarily involved with the fire.

Once those gases come in contact with the actual ignition source,

they ignite and expand and blow the windows out.

A woman filming moves away with the rest of the crowd,

but her phone is still recording and captures the sound

of what happens next.

The rising heat sets off a car alarm.

CAR ALARM BLARES

Then the shop windows explode outwards.

CRASHING

We had the ground floor blow the windows out, quite unexpectedly,

knocking two firefighters off their feet.

And then it became an extremely serious fire very quickly.

The fire is now spread across the entire ground floor

and high up in the building, Christina's in mortal danger.

I understand they were waiting for another ladder

which could accommodate two people, but whilst I was at the window,

smoke was beginning to seep from underneath the corner

of the cupboards and from underneath the floorboards.

I was panicking.

And so is Christina's husband.

He's frantic and begging the fire crew to get her out.

He was just beside himself.

I mean, what can you do?

To see a loved one stuck in a very quickly burning building.

It was going through the building so quickly.

We needed to get her out of the building.

She was obviously a life risk there that needed saving.

Later, as the fire surges towards her,

a desperate Christina dangles half out of the window.

A member of the fire crew struggles to keep hold of her.

And in a daring rescue attempt,

Danny risks his own life to save her.

Flames started to reach through to the ladder.

-She started to get burned.

-It was burning me.

My husband was screaming, I could hear him,

and my friend was screaming as well,

"They are going to die."

Mount Cook, New Zealand.

A snowboarder triggers an avalanche.

The wall of snow scoops him up and drags him a mile down the mountain.

It was like a tidal wave.

I was incredibly scared for him.

Fellow boarders are powerless to help.

And when the landslide of snow comes to a standstill,

there's no sign of their friend.

Where's Johno? Where's Johno?

40-year-old Johno Verity is a veteran snowboarder.

In his day, he was king of the slopes,

winning the British Snowboarding Championship in his late 20s.

I love being on a snowboard, on the mountain.

It's just an amazing feeling of freedom.

You can go incredibly fast.

You can stop very quickly.

It kind of turns you into a superhuman.

But after 12 years as a professional boarder,

Johno's life changed when he became a father to Ace,

now seven years old.

My daughter means everything.

Family is now the most important thing for Johno,

but he still takes to the slopes.

These days, however, he's more likely to be filming others

doing extreme stunts than doing them himself.

I'm a camera operator and I specialise in filming

on mountain and in the snow.

One of Johno's closest friends

is fellow veteran snowboarder James Stentiford.

I know Johno through the British snowboard scene.

I first came across him in Meribel, probably 20 years ago.

His nickname was Backflip Johno because that's

the only trick he could do at the time.

And we ended up forming a friendship and we started doing seasons

and riding together a lot.

Over the years, Johno and James have travelled the world

in pursuit of the ultimate ride.

And on a bright August morning in the Southern Alps of New Zealand,

they're unaware just how close they are to finding it.

The pair are there with another close pal, Eric.

They're preparing for a spectacular run snowboarding down the

country's highest mountain, Mount Cook.

We had wanted to make a film about freeride snowboarding.

All pretty excited to be heading to Mount Cook

because the mountains there are pretty unridden.

So it's proper wilderness, they're big mountains.

You know, it's quite an intimidating environment.

But their plans are put on hold when the trio are stuck in a hotel for

three entire days as a snowstorm rages outside.

When you get that much snow, you just know you're in

for a really amazing day.

When it all clears up, you've got tons of snow,

which is the best conditions you can have for snowboarding.

Then, on the fourth morning, the friends wake to a clear blue sky.

They're going to be skiing off trail in fresh powder snow

near the peak of the mountain. It can only be accessed by helicopter.

The Southern Alps in New Zealand, they're incredible mountains.

They have heli-skiing there.

That really offers you an opportunity

to do some great snowboarding.

But massive amounts of fresh snow are always

accompanied by an increased risk of avalanche.

So the boys take care to consult mountain guides

about the conditions.

Very, very experienced guide.

He seemed pretty happy with the situation.

They're also carrying personal emergency locator beacons.

Felt pretty confident in the snowpack.

But you still always ride a slope as if

the worst-case scenario is going to happen.

The boarders start with a few warm up runs on the less taxing slopes.

We had two runs, just mellow runs, to get our legs warmed up,

just to see how it was.

And the snow conditions were incredible.

Really light, really deep.

Then it's time for their big run.

The skiers are dropped just 150 metres

from the top of Mount Cook's peak - more than 3,500 metres up.

James is going first.

I was going to ride about two thirds of the way down, stop,

wait for Johno and Eric to come down and then we were going

to film the next pitch.

Going first is obviously a little bit more nerve-racking

because you are kind of like the test dummy.

James stops and turns to watch Johno and Eric get ready to launch

themselves down the mountain.

All three men are filming.

I was going to wait and watch Eric come down the ridge,

and then he was going to jump off a cliff,

and then I was going to start riding with him.

Eric sets off from just above Johno's position.

Ten seconds!

This is the footage from Eric's helmet camera.

So everything was going fine, he jumped off a cliff.

And this is the footage from Johno's camera as he films Eric.

And then I went to put in a big turn,

just to slow myself down.

I remember thinking, I've kicked up a lot of snow

with that one little turn.

And it was annoying because I was trying to keep him in the shots.

I was annoyed that I'd kicked up so much snow with my turn.

But Johno's kicked up a lot more than he thinks.

His turn, combined with Eric's landing,

triggers a massive avalanche.

I looked around me,

the whole mountain was just starting to roll and undulate.

This is the moment the torrent of snow catches up with Johno,

surrounding him and carrying him with it.

I looked to my right and I looked to my left

and I just knew I was in a big one.

And I just thought, right, stay on top.

The mountain of snow catches up with Eric too

and he's blasted by its power.

But because he's nearer the edge of the snowfall,

he's able to stay on top of it.

Johno's camera is still rolling as he's pulled into

the heart of the avalanche.

He's in danger of it swallowing him up.

If it does, he'll suffocate in seconds.

I was sliding along on my back trying to stay above the snow,

and then a huge wave of snow hit me from behind

and flipped me onto my front

and started churning me over.

The wall of snow is now heading towards James

further down the mountain.

It was massive. It was like a tidal wave.

I mean, there's no other way of describing it.

The force of it was incredible.

He takes evasive action.

From what I saw coming towards me,

if I hadn't put myself in a safe position,

I've no doubt that I wouldn't have survived.

But Johno can't escape.

He's being pulled deeper and deeper into the wall of snow.

It started getting heavier and darker and I was really,

really scared at this point because I thought, well, I'm just

going to end up being trapped underneath the snow.

It's kind of bloodcurdling,

this idea that you're going to be trapped in this concrete, basically.

It was a horrific thought.

All I was thinking was, you have to survive this.

Filmed from above, Johno can be seen being carried down the mountain

by the immense sheet of snow and ice.

James is powerless to help.

I was incredibly scared for him because until an avalanche stops

or settles, you don't know what could happen.

Then the avalanche hit a ridge.

The wave of snow shoots up.

Johno is catapulted into the air, suddenly seeing daylight again.

I came out over this lip,

so I must have been airborne with all the rest of the snow.

I was weightless and it was all light again.

I suddenly saw Johno flying through the air,

then again disappeared from view.

As fast as it started, the avalanche stops.

Eric has ridden it out and survived.

He urgently radios James.

Where's Johno? Where's Johno?

We'd rode down the avalanche path, and, you know,

we were ready to get our transceivers out, our shovels

and probes and dig for him.

Eric and James desperately scan the landscape for their friend.

Then, at the bottom of the slope, they spot a shape,

dark against the white snow.

Eric races across the slope,

his camera still recording.

Are you OK?

OK?

John's clearly in shock and gasping for breath.

One of the first things I was trying to do was hack up this snow so I

could actually breathe.

I had snow jammed down my throat, it was up my nose.

I really needed air badly.

-I thought I was

-BLEEP

-buried

because it completely engulfed me and I was like,

-"BLEEP

-get out of me, out of my mouth."

'It was a huge relief to be alive and unharmed

'and sitting there and thinking, that's over and I'm all right.'

You could see the emotion on his face.

I could see the fear in his eyes.

He was definitely traumatised by the experience.

To overcome his horror of what's just happened,

within hours, Johno forces himself to get back on his board.

I was kind of dreading it,

but it was really good to go up there and get back on the horse.

And the good thing about that was that

I got to have a couple of runs just for myself as well.

And that just gave me the reminder of

why I do it and why I love it.

James knows his friend's been incredibly lucky.

I've seen a lot of avalanche situations

and people have been killed in far smaller avalanches than that.

I think it was a really close call.

I think it's possibly the closest I've come to dying.

We all take risks every day,

so it's good to know that there are dedicated teams of people

who can help when things go wrong.

Back to Sudbury, Suffolk.

Filmed on a mobile phone, a building is ablaze in the town centre

where an increasingly desperate Christina is trapped,

hanging out of a top floor window.

We needed to get her out of the building.

She was obviously a life risk there that needed saving.

Firemen have reached her via a ladder.

One is perched at the top, smothered in smoke, trying to reassure her.

But to get Christina to safety, they need a stronger, more stable ladder.

It's just arrived and there isn't a second to spare.

My head was outside trying to breathe in fresh air

because the room was filling up with smoke.

The heat was beginning to come through the floorboards.

Desperate to escape, Christina hangs out of the window three floors up.

Onlookers are horrified.

The firefighter holding her can't get her onto his ladder.

The angle makes it too dangerous.

All he can do is grip tightly to stop her falling to her death.

One wrong move and they'll both go.

He told me to grip him by the neck

and to put my face inside his shoulder because there was

too much smoke and we were covered in smoke,

so much that we could hardly breathe.

At that point, I think a few of us then looked across

and realised if she didn't come out very soon, we were

probably going to lose her and the firefighter

at the top of the ladder.

Danny and his fellow firefighters manoeuvre the new,

safer ladder towards Christina's window.

It was a rapid development of fire at this point.

We were fearing that the next floor was about to flashover

and the whole front of the building would be engulfed in flames.

So it was getting really close now.

So we pitched our ladder up into thick smoke.

I happened to have a breathing apparatus set on and

was at the bottom of the ladder, so I made my way up.

As Danny climbs, Christina is still leaning out of the window,

her arm around the other firefighter.

In the choking smoke, Danny coaxes a frightened Christina

towards the edge of the windowsill so he can grab her.

The two other firefighters stand by in case she slips.

The men at the top, they were talking to me,

reassuring me that they would get me out.

But time's burning away.

Flames are now roaring out of the building.

It's an uncontrollable fire at this point.

Anybody was at risk, anybody near it was at risk.

He told me, just grab me, let's go.

-And I grabbed him.

-I managed to get a hold of her then, turn her around,

get her onto the ladder.

Oh, please get her out.

The camera records the moment Danny begins his attempt

to bring Christina down. The flames lick at their sides.

'I've got the ladder, she's within me and the ladder.'

Danny's using his body to shield Christina from the fire.

But it's 30 potentially deadly feet to the ground.

Hot black smoke covers them both.

That was the scariest moment...

when I couldn't breathe.

Danny and Christina struggle on,

but even worse is to come.

Just as they go out of sight behind the fire engine,

the inferno increases again.

Flames started to reach through the ladder.

She started to get burned. That's how close it was.

It was burning me. My husband was screaming, I could hear him

and my friend was screaming as well,

"They are going to die."

I was nearly dead. I was nearly gone.

This is what happens next.

Because I was getting burnt by the ladder, I panicked.

As she pushed off, I lost my grip on the ladder.

For a split second, I thought I was heading for the ground,

the same way she was going to go.

And as she went off the side of the ladder,

I just instinctively managed to grab her by her hand.

As she swung beneath the ladder, that brought me back onto it.

I managed to bend my legs as low as possible and the crew beneath,

fortunately, were there.

Somebody shouted, drop her.

And I let go and they caught her.

Is she all right?

The final landing was not so graceful.

It was like tumbling onto the ground.

I think another few seconds, it could have all gone terribly wrong.

Christina is suffering from the effects of smoke inhalation

and has some superficial burns to her legs.

But she is safe. Out of sight, she's led away to be treated

by an off-duty nurse.

I met my husband, he was waiting.

He kept on saying, "I thought I'd lost you.

"I thought you were going to die there."

It was an emotional experience.

You could feel the relief.

I've never seen anything like it in my life

and I hope that I never have to again.

Everybody, you've got to move back because we are

closing Market Hill completely. So I want everybody to move away, please.

Christina may be safe, but the firefighters aren't.

They still need to stop the fire spreading.

It's another eight long hours before it's out.

But the building and Christina's home are destroyed.

Next morning, one of the crowd who filmed the fire

records the devastation as she heads to work.

We lost everything.

Everything, except for the clothes that we had on.

I didn't even have shoes on when I was rescued from the fire.

The fire is believed to have been caused by an

electrical fault in a back room of the nail bar.

Nine months on, Christina and her husband

are now happily settled in a new home.

Most of the things in this house,

they were given by people, total strangers.

They said, "Do you need this? We've got this.

"Do you need this? We've got this."

They looked after us.

Everyone, I just want to thank them from the bottom of my heart.

But Christina is especially grateful to the fire service

and, in particular, Danny.

He risked his life for me, he did.

It was a huge relief for myself and the crew.

I think Christina was extremely lucky,

there was literally seconds to spare.

It couldn't have been any closer.

I thank my lucky stars, I thank everyone involved.

Yes. I thank my God for saving my life.

Some fascinating stories.

Join us next time for some more close calls.