Woman flees from candle fire

A WOMAN in her 80s had a lucky escape yesterday when a candle fell over and set fire to a settee.

The woman fled her home in Firwood Park, Chadderton, at around 8.15pm leaving 14 firefighters to tackle the blaze, which damaged the ground floor and caused smoke damage to the entire house.

Watch manager Nick Pine, from Chadderton fire station, warned people to be extremely careful when using candles and tealights.

He also praised the woman for acting quickly: “She did exactly the right thing - got out of the house and called us. If she had gone to investigate when she noticed the smoke there might have been a totally different outcome.”