Video: Mystery heroes save York’s oldest houses from fire disaster
Two mystery men have been hailed heroes after dousing a fire that could have spelled disaster for one of York’s most historic properties.
The men were captured on CCTV putting out a fire in the doorway of the Happy Valley Chinese restaurant on Goodramgate.
Someone had set fire to the bins outside the building which had spread to the front door.
Fire crews were called out at about 12.38am on Tuesday to tackle the fire.
But the CCTV shows the pair of heroes dousing the flames with water from large plastic buckets.
They also kicked the burning rubbish bags away from the restaurant and into the street.
Junyue Tan, manager of Happy Valley restaurant, made the discovery when he reviewed the footage after the drama.
The CCTV reveals a man setting fire to the bin bags before walking away, then the Good Samaritans rushing to help out.
Tan told YorkMix: “There were two men I didn’t know who come with buckets to put out the fires.
“Another one of the men kicked out all the bins from the doorways, so he saved these buildings.
“I want to say thank you to them, for saving our business and saving this lovely building which is more than 700 years old.”
‘Left me shaken’
The fire also affected the Little Yorkshire Candle Company next door.
Owner Alex Hall said the incident had hit her hard.
“I won’t pretend I’m not feeling flat and demotivated after the events of yesterday,” she posted on Instagram.
Living history
Our Lady’s Row dates from 1316. Rents from the tenements were to be used to endow a chantry of the Blessed Virgin at the Holy Trinity behind the properties, and the row of houses became known as Our Lady’s Row.
The external appearance of Our Lady’s Row has been altered over the centuries with the introduction of shop windows on the ground floor and the plastering over of the originally exposed timber framing.
Source: York Civic Trust
Photograph: Lady Row, Goodramgate in the late 1870s. Photograph © Explore York Libraries and Archives
“After the immense struggles of the last 18 months this last set back feels like the straw that broke the camel’s back
“It feels personal although I know it isn’t, but for someone to come and deliberately set fire to the days rubbish outside your building kind of gets you right in the pit of your stomach.
“The what ifs , the fact of it being such a close escape for the end of LYCC has left me shaken. Luckily the fire was put out before it took hold on our medieval row.”
The shop opened as normal, and Alex thanked everyone for their messages of support.