That must be one of the dodgiest headlines I’ve seen for a long time.

The house was on fire and burning dangerously. Police stopped neighbours from entering the house. The chances are that anyone else entering the house would also have been killed. Can you imagine the fuss if police had let neighbours enter and they had also died?

One of the first things we learn in ambulance training is that you can’t help anyone else if you are injured yourself. If you get yourself into a situation where you need to be rescued you are adding to, not reducing, the risk to others. The loss of life was tragic, but I think police did the responsible thing.

Mind you, if it was my neighbours, or a neighbour’s child, and I really thought I could help, even if it meant endangering myself, I’d like to think I would still go.

For a different perspective on this, see John Ray’s Political Correctness Watch.