SAVING a man from a burning house was not the first heroic deed by postman Tony Rendell.

The 56-year-old has defied the flames before when he saved the life of a family dog in Littlemore more than 20 years ago.

In 1993, while on his round in East Oxford, the grandfather and father-of-three kicked down the door of a burning home in Minchery Road.

Crawling under the smoke and surrounded by fire, he found an unconscious dog and dragged it out of the building before the fire service arrived, put an oxygen mask on it and brought it back to life.

The Labrador cross called Janus went on to live a normal dog’s life and when owner Wendy Trinder heard of Mr Rendell’s heroic actions, she remembered his selfless act.

She said: “I had gone for an interview with my dad and my mum was looking after my daughter Gemma and was out of the house.

“I remember we found out the house was on fire and rushed back there. We got there and the fireman had what looked like a body on the floor and it turned out it was the dog.

“Tony was great. He knew there was a dog in the house and kicked down the door. He went in the house and pulled the dog out and the fire service resuscitated him.

“Janus went on to live a very long and happy life.”

The family home was engulfed by flames after the blaze broke out in the living room, but firefighters managed to contain the fire and salvage the house, which Mrs Trinder’s mother Jean Arnatt still lives in.

Mrs Arnatt said: “He was the postman for years and was a really nice bloke. He was friendly and he was very helpful.”

Mr Rendell said he could remember the size of the fire on the day he pulled Janus from a house in 1993.

He added: “I remember I thought the people that live there could be in the house. But I realised the car wasn’t there.

“It was a big fire and people were shouting, saying don’t go in, but I just thought I had to. I knew about the dog so kicked the door in, crawled on the floor, found the dog unconscious and dragged it out.

“They put an oxygen mask on it and it came back to life.

“It was a bit scary but I just tried my best. You don’t think about yourself in those situations, you just do it.”

Mrs Trinder added she was not surprised by Mr Rendell’s recent neighbourhood heroics when she saw an Oxford Mail article on the 56-year-old saving a man from a fire in Kingston Blount.

The Royal Mail postman pulled the man from his home while on his morning delivery in the estate near Thame when he saw a kitchen full of smoke on July 16.

Mr Rendell, who lives with his fiancée Alison Boswell in Horspath, said he saw thick smoke and a man on the floor next to the table.

He then rushed into the house and pulled him out before he was taken to hospital.