A 25-year-old woman escaped a fire at her home on Saturday morning after being alerted to the blaze by South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue smoke alarms.

The Goldthorpe woman jumped from her bathroom window after hearing the smoke detectors. She has been taken to hospital with what are believed to be non life-threatening injuries resulting from smoke inhalation and the impact of her jump. Fortunately, her three children were not in the house at the time.

Fire crews were mobilised shortly after midnight to the incident on Highgate Lane from the new Dearne fire station on Manvers Way, which is as close to Goldthorpe as the now-closed Mexborough station.

Although the initial report had been a smell of gas, firefighters arrived to find smoke coming out of the property, and entered to find the house well alight. They quickly established that no one else was in the property and put out the fire.

The house suffered significant damage in the blaze, mostly through smoke logging, with the living room also fire damaged. The fire was found to have started accidentally in the living room and spread quickly through the house.

A fire service spokesman said: “Smoke alarms save lives. This was an extremely serious fire which developed rapidly, and our smoke alarms did their job in alerting the occupier to the developing situation. We have run an intensive programme of Home Safety Checks in the Dearne Valley in recent years, but anyone in the area who has not received a free visit from us should arrange one by texting FREE to 87023, or ringing (0114) 253 2314. We fit free smoke alarms and give advice on other simple ways of keeping your family and property safe.”

*Other tips to keep your home safe:
• Ensure all doors are closed when you go to bed
• Have an escape plan in case a fire breaks out
• Ensure all electrics are turned off, and all candles are blown out before going to bed
• Never smoke in bed. Always ensure all smoking materials are fully extinguished
• Take care when cooking
• Never smoke or cook when drunk