Hugh, 51, tried to blow up his wife’s home yesterday by ramming it with a fuel tanker, newsmen garthered .
The wife, Christine Billington, 53, fled in terror as husband twice crashed the truck filled with thousands of gallons of fuel into the bungalow before setting fire to the front door.
As flames threatened to trigger a massive explosion just 100 yards from a primary school, another man leapt into the 25-ton tanker and reversed it away from the blaze.
The brave man, Darren Fletcher — who was taking daughter Imogen, seven, to school — then used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames that were already lapping around the truck as fuel poured out.
The hero dad says:
“The engine was still running so I jumped in the cab and reversed the truck away from the bungalow.
“It’s terrifying now to think what could have happened. But at the time I was only thinking about everyone that was around — especially the schoolkids nearby.
“I just thought to myself, ‘I’ve got to move it — if this goes up there’s going to be a catastrophe.’ ” Darren was last night in Poole General Hospital, Dorset, being treated for the effects of smoke. He said: “I inhaled a lot of smoke but I wasn’t hurt and didn’t have any burns.
“I’m not a hero. I just did what I thought was best.
“I don’t need any medals — but a bottle of cider will do nicely.”
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