A grandfather suffered serious burns after his oven exploded into flames.
Robert Pearson was lucky to escape without life-threatening injuries after a fireball engulfed the kitchen of his Newcastle home.
But it was the quick thinking of Mum-of-two, Leah Beck, that likely saved the life of Mr Pearson and the others in the property, reported Chronicle Live.
Ms Beck recalled seeing "an explosion that blew Robert halfway across the kitchen" at the moment she turned the oven on. Immediately, she started trying to manually put out the flames that were smothering Mr Pearson.
"I had to put him out," she said. "The fire had started right next to my water supply so I was just having to pat him.
"I was just panicking. Everything goes out your head. I didn't know what to do so I just did what I could, because I know how bad burns can be."
As Ms Beck tried desperately to put out the fire, her 15-year-old brother helped usher her two young nieces out of the property.
Tragically, the family's pet kitten Lola perished in the blaze.
Meanwhile, one of her nieces had sprinted outside to escape the fire, while Ms Beck's brother rushed to help the younger niece out of the property.
"I told him to just grab the kids and get them out the house," she said. "If my brother hadn't been there it could have been a lot worse."
All the family members were able to escape the building before fire crews arrived.
Mr Pearson was taken to hospital to undergo treatment for his burns. He remains there at this time.
Despite losing almost all her possessions in the blaze, Ms Beck said she is just thankful that no one was killed.
"What I saw was terrifying, it was horrible," she said. "I just knew I had to do whatever I could to get him off fire and get everyone else out the house."
She added: "Everything I owned is gone. If it's not burned [it's] smoke damaged. I'm just devastated with what's happened, but I just think what could have happened. It could have been so much worse."
In a bid to help her the family rebuild, a GoFundMe page has been set up. So far, just over £1,000 has been raised.
A Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman said: "We can confirm we attended a house fire on Haggerston Crescent in Newcastle on Saturday evening.
"Our fire control received a call at 5:12pm and appliances from West Denton and Gosforth Community Fire Stations were on scene in a matter of minutes to bring the blaze under control.
"All persons self-rescued from the property before our arrival and one man was treated by ourselves before being left in the care of NEAS.
"Crews also administered oxygen therapy to a cat at the scene but unfortunately it later died.
"We believe the fire to be accidental and we will be supporting the families involved anyway we can during this difficult time.
"Our crews left the scene at 5:51pm."
