Woman saved by smoke alarm during house fire terror
A woman who lay sleeping while flames spread through the bedroom of her Northampton home was saved from burning to death by the smoke detectors fitted in her house, fire officers have said.
About 15 firefighters were called to the house in Mapperley Drive, Wakes Meadow, shortly before 7pm on Saturday. According to fire investigators, the blaze started after a cigarette had been left unattended on the bed.
One neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: "I rang the fire service. We had been landscaping the garden and my wife said: 'Is that a fire alarm I can hear?'. We went to the back of the house and I could hear the alarm and the crackling noise of the fire coming from the house.
"Smoke was coming through the windows. We thought someone might be in there so we tried banging on the door but got no response. There were explosions as the back windows were blown out.
"The fire took over very quickly. By the time I had got the phone to ring the fire service and come back out it had really taken hold."
The rear bedroom of the house, where the fire started, was completely destroyed in the blaze, which caused considerable smoke and heat damage to the rest of the first floor.
A woman asleep in the property when the fire began managed to escape when a smoke detector went off, waking her and alerting her to the nearby flames.
Station manager Eddie O'Neill attended the blaze shortly after the initial crews. He said: "This is another example of how valuable smoke detectors are.
"Without her smoke detector I don't think the woman would have made it out alive. We always try to push the message that people should have smoke detectors fitted. They save so many lives and this is another example of that."
The Red Cross Fire Emergency Support Service also attended the scene.
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Weather for Northampton
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
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Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
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