A woman was alerted to a fire in her home even before her smoke detector went off.

She heard the noise of the blaze and smelt the smoke before the alarm’s sensors were triggered.

Folkestone Fire Station watch manager Andy Batchelor said: “She was in another room from the fire but was alerted very quickly and was able to raise the alarmed and get out in time.”

Fire crews were called to the fire in the kitchen at her flat in Radnor Cliff , Sandgate, at 2.50pm today.
Two fire engines from the Folkestone station were called out and firefighters tackled the flames wearing breathing apparatus.

The fire destroyed the kitchen with smoke and heat and caused slight smoke damage to the rest of the flat.

The middle-aged woman was unhurt.

Crews were there for 40 minutes and now believe that the blaze was caused by an electrical fault in a fridge freezer.

They also revealed that they were slightly delayed by poor parking along the narrow street and are appealing people to leave enough space for emergency vehicles to pass.

Mr Batchelor said: “I’m afraid there was some inconsiderate parking. Everyone was parked perfectly legally and they were all on one side of the road.

"But some were not parked close enough to the kerb or even parallel to it.

“At times that slowed us down to a crawl. There are a lot of narrow streets in the Folkestone area so we would ask people to park in a way that leaves room for fire engines to get through without delay."