Three British holidaymakers have been hailed as heroes after running towards a raging wildfire in flip-flops to help exhausted firefighters.
Cruiserweight boxer George Maslen, 34, his partner Kaleigh Marie, 36, and his son’s friend Freddie Davies, 16, spent more than four hours helping to battle the flames near their holiday villa.
The trio, from Wiltshire, filled water containers, tackled burning embers, carried fire hoses into woodland and handed out around 600 bottles of water to emergency workers.
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George even briefly operated a water cannon from the top of a fire engine while its crew prepared equipment.
The holidaymakers suffered burns to their feet, hands and faces as hot embers rained down around them.
“It was like being at the gates of hell,” George told Need To Know.
The drama began when fires broke out approximately six kilometres from the villa where the group was staying near Fethiye, Turkey.
George and Kaleigh woke at around 4am or 5am to find plumes of smoke moving closer.
They could see people staying in surrounding villas beginning to evacuate.
By around 8am or 9am, smoke had appeared on a nearby hillside and the group drove towards it to assess whether they would also need to leave.
George said: “Police officers had the road shut and were turning people around.
“Kaleigh said, ‘Babe, no one’s helping. We’ve got to do something.’
“I said, ‘Okay, let’s do this.’”
The trio jumped out of their cars and began filling bottles before passing them up the hillside.
Helicopters later arrived and began dropping water on the blaze.
George then climbed onto the back of a truck travelling farther along the road, while Kaleigh and Freddie helped extinguish burning embers.
When a fire engine arrived, George said he climbed on top and briefly used its water cannon as firefighters set up their equipment.
After hours working in the intense heat, Kaleigh became concerned about the emergency workers battling the flames without enough drinking water.
The trio drove to a local shop, bought around 600 bottles and packed them into their vehicles before returning to the fire line.
George said: “We were all in sliders and flip-flops. We weren’t dressed for it at all. We just started running into the woods.
“The hot embers were bouncing up underneath us and burning our feet.
“At that point, we were surrounded by the fire and heat.
“We were pouring water over the firefighters and into their mouths because they were gasping for it.”
They spent approximately four-and-a-half hours running between the woodland, fire engines and water supplies.
George said he struggled to walk for several days afterwards and expects to be left with a scar after a large ember struck him in the face and fused to his bottom lip.
He said: “I think I’m going to end up with a decent scar on my bottom lip, where I got nailed in the face by a huge ember that fused to it.
“But I feel pretty lucky to have ended up with only these small injuries.”
Kaleigh continued working despite suffering from arthritis and was left in pain for several days.
George added: “She powered through and didn’t stop for a good three or four hours.
“I couldn’t be more proud of her.”
Freddie escaped with several minor scratches and small burn scabs, which George said cleared after a day or two.
When the trio returned to the woodland the following day, they discovered that the previously thick vegetation had been reduced to a blackened wasteland.
George said: “The day before, it was filled with luscious green bushes and growth, and you couldn’t see more than 20ft into the woodland.
“Now it’s just barren for miles.”
The wildfire broke out in the Yeşilüzümlü area of Fethiye and spread rapidly in strong winds.
Official updates said firefighters, forestry crews and other public bodies worked alongside residents as helicopters repeatedly collected water from a nearby reservoir.
The fire later reignited and threatened residential areas, prompting Fethiye officials to make an urgent public appeal for businesses and residents to supply fire extinguishers.
Turkish social media users praised the holidaymakers and hailed them as heroes for joining the battle.
Reflecting on the extraordinary experience, George added: “It’s better than any holiday memory I can think of.
“It probably brought us closer together.”
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