A 73-year-old woman is ‘lucky to be alive’ after she was rescued from her bedroom when a bedside cabinet caught fire early this morning.

Firefighters said the pensioner of Netherfield Gardens, Nelson, was just minutes from death as flames raged from the floor to the ceiling of her bedroom.

The disabled women rolled off her bed, on the opposite side to the bedside cabinet, and lay face down waiting for fire crews to arrive.

A team of firefighters got the fire under control while another pair battled the flames to rescue her.

The pensioner was pulled to safety and escaped serious injuries.

She was treated for smoke inhalation before being taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital by paramedics.

Crew manager Steve Howarth said her fire alarm ‘saved her life’.

It had been connected to a call centre who then contacted the emergency services around 12.30am this morning when it went off.

The woman had been smoking in her bedroom at the time. Crews had been called to her ground floor flat on the previous night.

Crew manager Steve Howarth said: “The woman was asleep and had been smoking in her bedroom and the bedside cabinet caught fire.

“The room wasn’t smoke logged it was on fire. When we arrived we quickly discovered she had rolled off her bed and had lodged herself between the bed and the wall.

“She was down on the floor which probably saved her life.

She was very lucky, if we have been two minutes longer she would have died.

“The smoke alarm saved her life.

“It was great team work from Nelson firefighters.”

The 73-year-old is expected to remain in hospital today.

An investigation has been carried out and the fire is being treated as an accident.