A woman had a lucky escape from a fire at her home after the smoke alarm sounded and woke her up.

Firefighters were called to the flat on Lowedges Road in Sheffield at 5am on Thursday morning.

The fire was in a porch area to the rear of her ground floor flat.

The woman was already out of her home when crews arrived, she was suffering from slight smoke inhalation and went to hospital for a check up.

The three fire crews from Lowedges, Central and Rotherham used hose reels to put the fire out.

An investigation into the cause of the fire in now underway.

Had it not been for the smoke alarm alerting her to the fire this could have been a very serious incident.

Firefighters are now reminding residents that if a fire does start, smoke alarms can give you an early warning, giving you the vital extra seconds needed to escape. But smoke alarms only save lives if they are working properly. To ensure your smoke alarms are working when you need them:

• Test regularly by holding down the ‘test’ button until it beeps
• Change the battery when the low battery warning operates
• Make sure they are free from dust and dirt