A MOTHER and son were left to face a bleak Christmas and new year after a fire which left their Northanger Close home cold, charred, dirty and smoke-damaged. The season of goodwill has been a nightmare for Pauline Savage, who had to be dragged from her house "kicking and screaming" as fire tore through an upstairs bedroom and fumes and smoke polluted the environment. An alert neighbour summed up the situation, forcing his way into the house to rescue Mrs Savage, who believes she may owe him her life. He then went next door and helped an elderly lady to safety, in case she too was affected by the fire. "I don't know his name, but he probably saved my life," said a grateful Mrs Savage. It was a double whammy for Pauline and her son, Chris, 26. On Sunday night (December 19) it seems Chris may have fallen asleep in his bed smoking a cigarette. Mrs Savage told The Herald that he woke her up in the early hours of the morning to tell her that his bed was on fire. Together they man-handled the smouldering mattress down the stairs and into the back garden, where they threw it onto the frozen lawn. Having wrapped a blanket around her son, who was cold and suffering from shock, Mrs Savage proceeded to throw icy water onto the mattress to extinguish the flames. She said there was no need to call the fire brigade. Chris then went back to sleep, wrapped in a duvet but lying on the base of the bed. According to Mrs Savage, the following morning he went off to work as usual and she did some shopping. On returning home in the late afternoon, Mrs Savage made a cup of tea and went to find the cat, who was asleep on her bed. It was then that she noticed what she thought was a light on in her son's bedroom. On opening the door Mrs Savage was confronted by a second fire - the base of the bed and bed clothes were alight and burning furiously. She called the fire brigade but failed to leave the house. Her "knight in shining armour" arrived in the nick of time to save a stunned Mrs Savage from being overcome by fumes. According to Hampshire Fire and Rescue station commander, Steve May, two appliances from Alton were called out at about 5-20 pm on Monday evening (December 20) to attend the blaze and managed to stop it from spreading to the rest of the house. Two firefighters with breathing apparatus entered the house to deal with the fire which was quickly extinguished. Mr May told The Herald that the lady of the house was suffering from shock and had collapsed at the scene. Officers administered first aid until an ambulance crew arrived, but she recovered quickly and was not taken to hospital. Mr May said that the cause of the second fire was still under investigation. The following day an officer from Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service community support team arrived at the house to fit two smoke detectors which, Mr May said, they did free of charge. In expressing thanks to all the fire officers for their help, Mrs Savage said that she and her son had experienced "a lucky escape". Nonetheless, it looked like being a cheerless Christmas and new year for the pair who spent the first two days after the second fire without electricity. They had no heat or cooking facilities and very little light. That situation has since been rectified but they appear to have lost thousands of pounds worth of furniture, clothes and equipment, the bedroom is a charred ruin and the rest of the house is covered in soot and needs to be professionally cleaned.
