Elderly woman rescued from her burning Rostrevor home

Station Commander, Robert McCracken, Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) said: "We received a call at 4.36am today (21 December 2016) to attend a house fire in Cherry Hill, Rostrevor, Warrenpoint. Two Appliances from Warrenpoint Fire Station and 1 Appliance from Newry Fire Station attended the incident.

“Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus forced entry into the property and rescued a 77 year old lady from the bedroom of a detached bungalow. She was suffering from slight smoke inhalation and was treated at the scene by paramedics and taken to hospital by Ambulance as a precautionary measure."

He said firefighters dealt with a small fire in a bedroom and the cause of the fire is being treated as "accidental".

He added the incident was dealt with at 5.05am

"The lady was wearing a personal alarm pendent and pressed the button to alert Aid Call, the personal alarm service provider," he added. "Her smoke alarm was going off at the time of the call and Aid Call alerted NIFRS to the fire.

“An off duty Retained Firefighter from Warrenpoint Fire Station had previously been carrying out some maintenance in the lady’s home and had taken the opportunity to replace the batteries in her smoke alarm. He also provided her with basic fire safety advice, suitable for her particular mobility needs. This included lying on the floor to stay below the level of the smoke. This advice, combined with the personal alarm alert system, has ultimately saved her life.

“At this time of year it’s more crucial than ever that we check in with our older family and friends and those who are more ‘at risk’ in our community.

"Please ensure they have a working smoke alarm, check their home for Christmas fire hazards and advise them of steps they can take to help ‘STOP’ fire in their home.

"If you are worried about the fire safety of someone in your community you can register them for a free Home Fire Safety Check by visiting our websitewww.nifrs.org."