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We were watching 'Heartbeat' on ITV. I heard what sounded like a smoke alarm, turned the sound off the TV, and yes it was a smoke alarm screaming it's warning ! I opened our sitting room window and, yes, it was coming from our immediate neighbour's house. How on earth could she not hear that high pitched and very piercing noise?

We hammered on her door and shouted her name (her sitting room window was open, as was her bedroom window). Chris (my hubby) looked through her kitchen window and saw a large saucepan smoking furiously on the cooker top. It was an electric cooker and the hot plate was bright red, as was the base of the saucepan ! Not knowing what was in the pan, we were thankful that the kitchen window was open, so the house could be accessed (the door was locked). Chris nipped back to our house to fetch step ladders to put against this window so he could get in and remove the saucepan, which by this time had one or two little flames showing above the top edge ! I had my mobile phone with me and dialled 999 to fetch a police officer to help get in, and also possibly to search the house in case my neighbour was unconscious from an accident. Apparently, as there was smoke reported, the operator said she would also send the fire brigade, and as it was a house, there would have to be two Fire Appliances, and as there was 'person reported' there would have to be three, and also an ambulance - this was policy.

I had said to Chris "Don't you dare climb in that window !" - bulls and red rags came to mind, as he gave me a challenging look (he sometimes forgets that he is 72 years old ffs!). In the blink of an eye, while I was busy giving details to the operator, Chris had shinned up the ladder and managed to get into the kitchen, unlocked the back door, which fortunately had the keys in the lock, grabbed a towel and moved the saucepan off the red-hot ring. The saucepan immediately started to loose its red glow, and Chris reached for the main cooker switch on the wall to cut off power to the cooker. We wedged the back door open, and made sure the window was as wide as possible, then we went up the stairs to where the sitting room was, and also the front door was on that level.

These houses were built on a hillside, so they were split level houses, with the kitchen/dining room on the lowest level, the sitting room and store, lower toilet, and one bedroom on the next floor with access to the front door and to the road. On the next floor were two more bedrooms and the main bathroom and toilet.

I went to open the front door to allow a through draught to clear the acrid smoke, while Chris opened the sitting room door and found the TV on and the neighbour seemingly unconscious on the sofa! He called her name, louder and louder, but absolutely no reaction. At this point we heard sirens and very shortly several large business-like fire-fighters marched in through the front door. They spread out to different parts of the house to check things out, and a woman fire-fighter armed with a large holdall came into the sitting room and saw our neighbour sprawled out on the sofa, apparently unconscious. She touched her shoulder gently and nudged it calling her name. The neighbour was startled as she opened her eyes. Well I suppose anybody would be, opening their eyes to have a huge yellow helmet just in front of their face! She said she was alright. She had put some potatoes and veg to cook on the stove, come upstairs, put the TV on and must have fallen asleep! The smoke alarm was still sounding, and she gradually realised what had happened.

The road outside was filled with Fire Appliances, a police car and a little later, an ambulance ! I expect curtains were twitiching :wah:

The firefighter gave her some oxygen 'To clear her lungs of the smoke'. A police officer came in, shortly followed by an ambulanceman, who gave her a thorough check. Some of the other firefighters checked the smoke had cleared, and one of them fitted another smoke alarm in the sitting room. My neighbour had two alarms anyway, one in the kitchen/dining room and one on the front door hall ceiling. Another firefighter fitted another smoke alarm at the top of the house on the ceiling near the stairs. If she ever has that happen again, the whole street will hear !!!!

She was very grateful to us, but I suspect more than a little embarrassed by the event. She said to me that her daughter, who was out that evening, would be very jealous with all those macho men making sure her mother was OK, and she had been out and missed the visit! However, if the daughter had been in, the event would not have occurred !

The Leading Firefighter congratulated Chris for his actions, and said he did everything right to stop things getting out of hand. He said it would have been quite possible for the contents of the saucepan to have affected nearby teatowels and then one thing would have led to another. Oh, and my neighbour's white (and totally deaf) cat just sat through all the excitement, with a bemused look on it's face, on top of a chest of drawers in the hallway, much to the amusement of the firefighters. :yh_eyerol

Congratulations Chris!:yh_party

You are a good Samaritan!:-4

If it wasn't for you................



You both acted quickly without any doubts.

hats off Gill & Chris!:guitarist

that had to be an exciting day!:-3

Thanks Odie, but actually, it was a pain in the arse ! Not to put too fine a point on it. The acrid smoke penetrated into out house and we had to have our back door and windows open for a while. It concerns us a little, as this has happened before........... twice ! One of these days, if she aint careful, she'll burn her house down, and ours and the neighbours the other side of her ! It's all very well having numerous smoke alarms if, instead of sleep, a person has a 'short spell of death' ! So what good will they be???? Well, OK, we heard the alarm this time, but supposing she does the same thing whilst we are away on holiday?

Doesn't bear thinking about ! :-5:-5:-5

Don't make yourself crazy over what ifs. I'm glad you both were there to stop things before they got out of hand.

I remember when my grandmother decided to make some creamed onions, one of her favorite snacks.

She got out the aluminum fry pan, put some butter in it and started the burner on high, then realized she had no onions, so decided to walk to the store and get some.

She seemed to have forgotten that the store was five miles away.

My aunt came home from work to find the house filled with smoke and a flame taking the kitchen apart. (This was before smoke/fire alarms were common.)

She ran all about the house looking for Gramma, and it was about then my cousins showed up from school, and began searching for their mother. Finally, a neighbor noticed the smoke, and called the fire department.

Well, the fire was extinguished, all the kids and my aunt, and the fire marshal went looking for Gramma.

About the time the fire marshal was ready to call in reinforcements to begin a major search, a car pulled up, and Gramma stepped out.

Seemed she had got tired on her walk and sat down on the porch swing of a house about a mile from the store, and had a nice visit with the folks that lived there. They were nice enough to give her a ride home.

She completely forgot about getting onions, and asked my aunt to send one of the kids to the store to get her some onions.

The next day, my aunt took off from work to find a nice assisted living home for Gramma.

G#Gill;1322552 wrote: Thanks Odie, but actually, it was a pain in the arse ! Not to put too fine a point on it. The acrid smoke penetrated into out house and we had to have our back door and windows open for a while. It concerns us a little, as this has happened before........... twice ! One of these days, if she aint careful, she'll burn her house down, and ours and the neighbours the other side of her ! It's all very well having numerous smoke alarms if, instead of sleep, a person has a 'short spell of death' ! So what good will they be???? Well, OK, we heard the alarm this time, but supposing she does the same thing whilst we are away on holiday?

Doesn't bear thinking about ! :-5:-5:-5


Oh Gill, I had no idea it came into your house, it certainly wouldn't have been good for Chris's breathing nor yourself & this is a third time?

How can someone sleep through an alarm?:-5

I think its time you two talked to her, and tell her your fears.

Oh Gill,

You and Chris were extremely brave to venture into that home. Thankfully you were not hurt.

This must have been such a frightening experience for you.

You saved this woman's life....good for you. You must be so proud of yourselves. Honestly, I'm so proud of you and your concern for your neighbor.

When things settle down, it would be a good idea to have a 3rd party speak with your neighbors about why this tragedy keeps happening. The police and fire department would be the best people to speak with her. An investigate needs to happen now.

You're right Gill. The lives of this woman's neighbor's are at risk if she is falling asleep with the oven on.

Way to go Gill;)

Lovely, lovely story Lars. I understood everything you've said.....been there, done that with my mom and other family members.

You're neighbour is so lucky to have you and Chris as neighbours :-6

Well done Gill & Chris, you both are heros!!!

A deed well done! Hats off to you both for your quick action. :-6

Well last night it happened again, 10 days later! The only difference being that it was the acrid smell leaching through the wall that alerted us. The smoke alarms had not been triggered yet! We didn't bother with the fire brigade though. Fortunately, as before, she had left the kitchen window open a little, for the cat. She had also left the kitchen outside door key in the lock, so we could unlock the door once Chris had climbed in. There was the bloody saucepan smoking like Vesuvius, the electric plate under it was red hot so hadn't quite reached the white of 10 days ago!

This time I had rung her mobile phone, but no answer. I also rang her daughter - she set off straight away to come over to her mum's place.

I went up to the next floor where the sitting room was, and where the front door was. I unlocked the front door and threw it open wide, the smoke was pretty thick and acrid. Chris was sorting out the saucepan and switching off the electric cooker and propping the back door open. I opened the sitting room door, the TV was loudly showing 'Big Brother' and our neighbour was out cold on the sofa. There was a half full pint glass of something alcoholic on a coffee table by the sofa. I shouted her name again and again, she was breathing very deeply. I shook her shoulder, also again and again. Absolutely no reaction - a short spell of death !

I switched the TV off because the smoke alarms had just been triggered, and maybe they would wake her up if the TV was off. No chance ! No reaction. Chris joined me in the hallway, and we had to go outside to try to get some clean air in our lungs. At this point the daughter and two male friends arrived, running down the front path. Chris told them the electric cooker was switched off on the wall, and I told her daughter that her mum was still breathing but I couldn't wake her. She thanked us very much and disappeared inside their house. We returned to ours. We left the daughter to it, and it seemed she managed to wake her mum up at last and for the next 20 minutes the daughter was shouting and screaming at her mother. There were words like 'burn the bloody house down !'........'neighbours again ! '........ 'stupid stupid bloody cow !' ............ ' you need effing help !' ......... etc etc.

The daughter and the two fellas left after about half an hour, presumably they had checked that everything was secure, because we left loads of windows and doors open.

I wonder when the next indoor barbeque will occur next door :-5:-5:-5

We are going away in a couple of weeks for a fortnight, so I must warn the daughter next time I see her, that we seem to be the only neighbours prepared to do anything when we hear a smoke alarm, or smell burning food. Also that we would prefer to return to our house, not a smoldering ruin ! :-5:-5:mad:

G#Gill;1325246 wrote: Well last night it happened again, 10 days later! The only difference being that it was the acrid smell leaching through the wall that alerted us. The smoke alarms had not been triggered yet! We didn't bother with the fire brigade though. Fortunately, as before, she had left the kitchen window open a little, for the cat. She had also left the kitchen outside door key in the lock, so we could unlock the door once Chris had climbed in. There was the bloody saucepan smoking like Vesuvius, the electric plate under it was red hot so hadn't quite reached the white of 10 days ago!

This time I had rung her mobile phone, but no answer. I also rang her daughter - she set off straight away to come over to her mum's place.

I went up to the next floor where the sitting room was, and where the front door was. I unlocked the front door and threw it open wide, the smoke was pretty thick and acrid. Chris was sorting out the saucepan and switching off the electric cooker and propping the back door open. I opened the sitting room door, the TV was loudly showing 'Big Brother' and our neighbour was out cold on the sofa. There was a half full pint glass of something alcoholic on a coffee table by the sofa. I shouted her name again and again, she was breathing very deeply. I shook her shoulder, also again and again. Absolutely no reaction - a short spell of death !

I switched the TV off because the smoke alarms had just been triggered, and maybe they would wake her up if the TV was off. No chance ! No reaction. Chris joined me in the hallway, and we had to go outside to try to get some clean air in our lungs. At this point the daughter and two male friends arrived, running down the front path. Chris told them the electric cooker was switched off on the wall, and I told her daughter that her mum was still breathing but I couldn't wake her. She thanked us very much and disappeared inside their house. We returned to ours. We left the daughter to it, and it seemed she managed to wake her mum up at last and for the next 20 minutes the daughter was shouting and screaming at her mother. There were words like 'burn the bloody house down !'........'neighbours again ! '........ 'stupid stupid bloody cow !' ............ ' you need effing help !' ......... etc etc.

The daughter and the two fellas left after about half an hour, presumably they had checked that everything was secure, because we left loads of windows and doors open.

I wonder when the next indoor barbeque will occur next door :-5:-5:-5

We are going away in a couple of weeks for a fortnight, so I must warn the daughter next time I see her, that we seem to be the only neighbours prepared to do anything when we hear a smoke alarm, or smell burning food. Also that we would prefer to return to our house, not a smoldering ruin ! :-5:-5:mad:


O M G, she's a danger to herself and you two ffs!

She should not be living alone anymore, I'm stunned her daughter doesn't realize this plus the fact she's drinking and that is probably what knocks her out so cold that no one can wake her!:-5

I would tell her daughter all of this and that she can't be left on her own.:sneaky:

Yourself & Chris don't need this sort of crap!:mad:

Gill, That is absolutely awful. What a horrendous experience for you. I Just can not think of any-thing more scary and upsetting.....

I mean, 'Heartbeat' FFS.... Is that all that was on tv?

















Seriously... Well done Chris... Top Show.

Gill, you sure know how to tell a story in the most expressive way. Tragic as the situations was, your account had me both aghast and laughing. Maybe it's just me.

Seeing as my last residence was burnt down because of a fire from next door, I fully appreciate the fire services who had the audicity to bang on my door at 4:30 in the morning. Seeing as my front door, and only door, looked like some back door to a shop, I am grateful for their thoroughness. Otherwise, I too could have been covered in water and soot when the ceiling to my bedroom collapsed under the weight of the water being aimed at the top floor to put out the fire.

I still wonder who the hell was passing and spotted the fire at those wee hours of the morning and bothered to report it. I owe that person a beer at least. On the other hand, the fire may not have been accidental.

Gill, You're a wonderful neighbor, but this woman needs serious intervention by someone....the police, fire department, hospital? It seems like her daughter is nasty and doesn't care about her mother. The family doesn't seem to be taking care of this woman. I can't believe that no one from your town has not intervened.

You may come home one day with your own house burned to the ground.