Tragic end to Penshurst unit fire

Ray Jerome, 67, who ran several times into a burning unit block to save others, died of a heart attack at St George Hospital in the early hours of Saturday.

The father-of-two spent his last minutes trying to put out a fire on the ground floor of Cambridge Street unit, directing people outside and running in and out of the building trying to help the firefighters.

Mr Jerome was sleeping in a unit shared with his daughter Nicole, 37, and grandson Chris, 8, when a fire alarm woke him up just after midnight.

He ran out of his unit and tried to go into his neighbour’s burning unit but his daughter pulled him back.

However, he made sure that two men, aged 51 and 64, who lived in the unit where the fire started, got out of the building alive.

‘‘This was just so Dad,’’ Ms Jerome said.

She said her father had suffered two heart attacks which doctors believed had been caused from the stress and from smoke inhalation.

‘‘He was running around and kept asking, ‘Is anybody else in there? Have we got everyone outside?’’’ Ms Jerome said.

She said the Penshurst resident of 40 years was known affectionately by neighbours as a handyman who would ‘‘do anything for anyone’’.

‘‘He came across as a bit grumpy sometimes, but he would give the last $5 of out of his pocket to someone if he thought they needed it,’’ Ms Jerome said.

His other daughter, Louise Paget, said her father had worked for Sydney Water for 20 years and then as a police electrician.

‘‘There was no way dad would have been able to stand outside and just watch,’’ Ms Paget said.

Ms Jerome said she wanted to thank the emergency services for all their help and for the people who had come to help from the car park at the aquatic centre across the road.

Police said the unit block had been evacuated for several hours until the blaze was extinguished.

Fire and Rescue NSW and police are still investigating the cause of the fire.

Mr Jerome’s funeral will be held at noon this Friday at Woronora Crematorium, Sutherland.