AN elderly woman was rescued by her own daughter after a blaze broke out in her garage and destroyed her family home.

Angelika Charalambous, aged in her eighties, was asleep in bed when a fire took hold of the garage in Southchurch Boulevard, Southend, causing her car to explode.

A passer-by saw the flames and attempted to wake Mrs Charalambous, before alerting neighbours who raised the alarm with her family - who live just two doors down.

Daughter Mary Anastasiou and son-in-law Andreas rushed to the house.
Mrs Anastasiou said: “When we got there, I took the keys and tried to open the door but it was very smokey so it was difficult to see.”

Mr Anastasiou ran to the back of the house in an attempt to climb onto the balcony and reach his mother-in-law, who had been woken by the commotion.

He said: “I could see her and tried to use an old bench from the garden to reach the balcony but by the time I got up there she had gone.”

He was unaware his wife had managed to open the door and had made it upstairs.

Echo:

Mrs Anastasiou said: “Everyone was telling me not to go in there but all I could think was I had to get my mother out.

“I grabbed her and took her out of the house and straight to our home. I didn’t even let her look at the fire.”

A car parked in the garage aggravated the fire when the fuel tank exploded.

Two crews from Southend, one from Leigh and one from Rochford were called to the fire, and were able to winch the car out of the garage so they could extinguish the flames and help prevent the blaze from spreading.

The fire destroyed the garage and left the house structurally unsafe. The cause is believed to be accidental and is being investigated.

Mrs Charalambous, who has lived in the house since 1966, was treated by paramedics at the scene.

Her daughter, who suffered a burn on her arm, added: “She’s in shock but she’s a very feisty lady who is taking it in her stride.
 
“She will have to stay with me until it’s safe."

Reflecting on her heroic efforts, she said: “I just did what had to be done. Anyone would’ve done exactly the same. Thank god she is ok.”