Video: Santa Claus rescues Australian man from burning house

Fireman Nick Carey had dressed as Santa Claus as part of his fire crew's annual school lollipop drop off

Carey performed life-saving CPR on the 20-year-old man (Youtube)

A fireman dressed as Santa Claus gave one New South Wales resident the best Christmas present he could have hoped for on Saturday when he rescued him from a burning house.

Fireman Nick Carey of NSW Fire and Rescue Telarah brigade had been getting into the festive spirit by dressing up as Santa as part of the brigade's annual Christmas school lollipop drop-off, when he and his crew saw smoke billowing out of the top of a property in Rutherford, New South Wales.

The crew rushed to the house to find it engulfed in flames and the front door locked.

After breaking down the door, the crew found the house full of smoke and an unconscious 20-year-old man inside.

The man was then pulled onto the front lawn, where Carey performed life-saving CPR.

He told the Telegraph: "I think the beard and the hat came off when we started the resuscitation It’s definitely the weirdest and most awkward situation I’ve found myself in."

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The quick-thinking Carey then sprung into action and after a few minutes was eventually able to resuscitate the man after .

According to observers, the situation was very tense and the fire crews could be heard saying "we’re losing him."

New South Wales fire inspector Michael Woodward said that the man was extremely lucky to be alive.

"If they had of been turning out from the station, it would have been another five minutes and the fire could have been considerably worse and it could have been a lot worse for that young guy," he said, "he's very fortunate. The guys did a good job and I am very happy with what they did."