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AN elderly mother's quick-thinking helped to save her son from a raging fire which destroyed the kitchen of her Walton home.

Val Oakley, 86, rushed to a neighbour's home to call the fire service after her 64-year-old son, Sean, discovered the blaze in the kitchen of the semi-detached house in Southview Drive.

On arrival at the scene, at 7.45pm on Sunday, fire crews from Frinton and Clacton discovered the ground floor well alight and the house heavily smoke-logged.

Mrs Oakley is staying in Kirby Cross with her son Neil who said: "Sean want to make a cup of tea and he saw the fridge was smoking. When he opened the fridge the fire roared out.

"He called mum and she shouted to him to get out and then rushed to our neighbours to ring the fire brigade.

"Her quick thinking saved them both and stopped the fire destroying the whole house."

Ten firefighters, wearing breathing apparatus and using three hose reels, extinguished the fire by 9pm.

Firefighters originally thought Mrs Oakley had been rescued by her son, Sean, but Neil said: "It was more like the other way round - she helped to get him out of the house."

Lee Palfreyman, station officer, said: "The resident heard a noise in his kitchen and discovered the fridge was on fire and thick black smoke was pouring out.

"The man called the fire service and got himself and his elderly mother out of the house and waited for us to arrive, which was exactly the right thing to do.

"Fire crews worked extremely hard and prevented the fire from spreading."

Mr Palfreyman added it is not thought the house had a working fire alarm.

"Smoke alarms provide an early warning system if a fire breaks out in your home and could be your only warning," he added.

Anyone who wishes to book a free home fire safety visit should call 0845 6012495.

1:49pm Thursday 15th May 2008

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