The men have been awarded one of the country’s highest bravery and life-saving medals

Two heroes from Gosport put their own lives in mortal danger to save the life of a suicidal axe wielding man after he poured fuel over himself and his car at a Lee on Solent petrol station have each been awarded one of the country’s highest bravery and life-saving medals.

Dale Fletcher and Brice Munday are both to receive rarely awarded Royal Humane Society Silver medals following the horrific incident on the morning of 4 December at the service station in Broom Way, Lee on Solent.

The scene at the BP petrol station in Broom Way, Lee-on-the-Solent, last December | Sarah Standing

They were filling up their work truck but just as they went to leave the forecourt they saw the man pouring fuel over himself and his vehicle.

They stopped and approached him but he then produced a lighter and when they grabbed a fire extinguisher from nearby he pulled out an axe as well.

They continued to try and calm him down but then he set light to himself and his vehicle, the fuel pump and another vehicle which was close also went up in flames.

Despite the serious danger they were in Dale and Brice did not run to safety. Instead they ran to the man who was in flames, dragged him away from his blazing vehicle, sprayed him with a fire extinguisher and rolled him on the ground and in a nearby puddle to try and put the flames out. Brice then went back to the man’s vehicle to rescue a dog that was in it.

Praising the two of them Andrew Chapman, Secretary of the Royal Humane Society said: “In a situation like that anybody could be forgiven for running away as fast as possible. There was a very real danger of a major explosion.

“However, Dale and Brice, far from running stayed calm and put themselves in serious danger in their bid to stop the man. They were true heroes and put their lives on the line.

“Their initial observation skills were superb, and their quick actions when the fire took hold most certainly reduced the severity of the man’s injuries and prevented a potential catastrophic explosion, which would have caused wide-scale damage and threat to life.

Andrew Chapman | Supplied

“Our Silver Medals are only awarded very rarely but without question they are richly deserved in this case.

“We appeal to members of the public if they hear of incidents in which lives have been saved, sometimes in circumstances where the life savers have put their own lives in danger, to bring them to our attention,”

The roots of the Royal Humane Society stretch back nearly 250 years. Other than awards made by the Crown it is the premier national body for honouring bravery in the saving of human life.

It was founded in 1774 by two of the day's eminent medical men, William Hawes and Thomas Cogan. Their primary motive was to promote techniques of resuscitation.

However, as it emerged that numerous people were prepared to put their own lives at risk to save others, the awards scheme evolved, and today a variety of awards are made depending on the bravery involved.

The Society also awards non health care professionals who perform a successful resuscitation. Since it was set up the Society has considered over 90,000 cases and made over 220,000 awards. The Society is a registered charity which receives no public funding and is dependent on voluntary donations.