A warden who rescued a 94-year-old Shrewsbury man from his smoke filled kitchen has been praised by fire officers for saving his life.
The fire service has now repeated its call for carers to be extra vigilant.
In the Shrewsbury incident an alarm alerted the woman who helped the elderly man, who is almost chairbound, out of the warden controlled flat in Abbey Foregate.
It had been a potentially serious incident, said Community Fire Safety team leader Rabinder Dhami.
"The warden heard the alarm, went to investigate and isolated the electricity supply before leading the gentleman to safety. She did everything right.
"Our fire officers at the scene are in no doubt that her actions prevented a loss of life and she also prevented the fire from escalating.
"This just goes to show that working smoke alarms do save lives."
Firefighters arrived at the scene to find the flat smoke logged caused by an electric plastic kettle burning when the top of the hob was accidentally turned on. Cooking oil in plastic bottles and a plastic deep fat fryer were also on the cooker top. The electric appliances were plugged into a nearby socket with wires trailing across the cooker.
The kitchen set up was described as "potentially deadly" by a senior fire officer at the scene.
"We just want to remind people or carers of elderly people to make the kitchen as safe as is humanly possible under the circumstances. Contact us and we will visit you to give the best advice," added Rabinder.
