A FIREFIGHTER from Ilkley

rescued a young girl after her home was devastated by a mudslide in New York State, USA.

Ian Dorman, 39, of Skipton Road, was on holiday in the town of Katonah with his friend - David Dean, of Baildon - when freak weather conditions in the wake of Hurricane Floyd led to the collapse of a hillside behind the family home where they were staying.

A tree was sent crashing into the house, which moved forward, trapping four people inside. Mr Dorman, who had managed to quickly run from the scene as disaster struck, then went back to free the youngest member of the Leitner family, Sarah, while Mr Dean freed another daughter, Emma.

Emergency services then arrived to rescue the two remaining family members - Mark, and his teenage son, Sam - who were trapped in the cellar of the house.

Mr Dorman's 39-year-old wife, Elizabeth, a business partner in Wharfedale Homecare, in Ilkley, told the Gazette yesterday: "They are all extremely lucky to be alive. Ian has cuts, grazes and bruises and thought his nose might have been broken by jumping over a wall.

"I was relieved when I knew he was all right and everybody else had got out all right as well as they are all friends of ours. It is a great relief.

Her husband had phoned her to tell her of the high winds and rain, as had been expected, but she was then contacted early on Friday by one of Mr Dean's relatives who told her an accident had happened at the house of Mr Dean's sister, Sue Leitner.

Mrs Dorman said: "Later in the day, Ian phoned me and told me exactly what happened. At the back of the house was woodland and because of the torrential rain, there had been a landslide into the back of the house while he was sitting out at the front.

"He said he heard the crack of the tree and felt the house move forward while he was sitting there. He ran from the house and jumped over a wall.

"Ian ran back to the front of the house and through the front door he said he could see Sarah, the youngest child. He pulled away a fly screen and pulled her out. David had managed to get Emma out."

As Mr Leitner and his son were trapped in the cellar, Mr Dean tried to talk to them before the fire brigade arrived and managed to free them. Mrs Dorman said: "The cellar was flooded. There was all this water and mud seeping down into the cellar and they had to wait for the fire brigade to come and get them out.

Mr Dorman, who works from Rawdon Fire Station, returned to Britain late yesterday to his wife and children, Robyn, 13, and Rosie, six, in time for family birthday celebrations.

Mrs Dorman said: "He was extremely upset. I think you would be if you thought you were going to die. When he phoned me, he just wanted to come home.

"As a firefighter, he is there with his team, but in America, it was a different situation. He was on his own and he knew he had to do it, which is part of his training, I suppose."

Mrs Dorman said that after the accident in Katonah, friends and neighbours rallied round to help out the Leitners, who escaped with minor injuries and electric shocks. An internet website has been set up featuring the progress in helping them after their home was wrecked.

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