A PENSIONER has thanked the "lovely firefighters" who came to her rescue when she feared her house was on fire. 

Ann Fawcett called 999 after the smoke alarm in her home in Headline Rise on Walney went off at tea-time on Wednesday. The fire control centre tasked the on-call crew based from Walney fire station who were at the scene within a matter of minutes. 

"I was shaking like a leaf when the firemen got here," the 69-year-old said. 

"They seemed to get here in no time at all, I still had the phone in my hand. The alarm had been going off and I couldn't figure out why.

"My boiler is in the loft so I was starting to worry it might be something to do with that, and I thought I'd better ring the fire brigade just in case."

The firefighters, made up of crew manager Simon Morgan and firefighters Phil Sullivan, Gary McDonald, Richard Shipton and Steve Eddy, were quick to reassure Mrs Fawcett and put her at ease. 

She said: "They calmed me down, they were absolutely brilliant. They quickly discovered it was a fault with the smoke alarm. 

"They were all so lovely, especially (crew manager) Simon (Morgan) who stayed close to me and talked to me. They were such a nice bunch of lads."

The firefighters then carried out a home safety check for Mrs Fawcett and installed a new smoke alarm. The free service is available to be requested by residents across Cumbria by calling 0800 358 4777.

Station manager Roger Exley said a firefighter's aim is always to prevent a fire in the first place, and urged residents to take advantage of the free home safety check. 

"Firefighters dedicate 90 per cent of their time to proactively preventing fires, to make sure they don't happen in the first place. The safety of the community where our firefighters live and work is at the heart of everything they do."