An off-duty policeman rescued a pensioner from her blazing kitchen.

Michael Sutton got the woman out of her house and battled to smother the flames with a blanket.

But he said: “I don’t think I’m a hero because I have had had far more dangerous situations in my job.

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PC Sutton swung into action when he heard the smoke alarm, and screams, in the distance at Guilford Avenue, Whitfield, last Thursday night.

He said: “You could hear the smoke alarm from several houses away, then I heard the lady screaming and shouting.

“I went through a neighbour’s property, climbed over a fence and got to the woman’s property though the back door.

“When I got inside I looked into the kitchen and saw the cooker and stove alight.

“I can’t remember if the woman was in the kitchen or hallway but I got her out through the front door.

“Then I went back inside to try to smother the flames. I didn’t think about my own safety, I just wanted to stop the fire spreading.

“I was able to place the blanket on the stove but the smoke was so thick that I had to get out.

“The woman seemed to be in her 80s and I had been able to walk her out.

"She wasn’t hurt but she seemed a bit disorientated.”

PC Sutton, 29, has been with Kent Police for four years. He started at Canterbury Police Station last week, having previously worked in Medway.

He said: “I reacted on the spur of the moment. I could just see this woman needed help.
“I have been in more dangerous situations, particularly in the Medway Towns.

"The worst cases can be dealing with people having a mental health crisis who develop and amazing strength."

PC Sutton was one of two people who first helped the fire victim.

A neighbouring volunteer first responder, Dominique Foulger-Coetzee , 40, also heard the smoke alarm and had dialled 999.

She said: “Michael had gone through our house and jumped over our garden fence to get to the woman out and I received her as she came out.

“She is very shaken up by physically she is okay.”

Firefighters were called to the blaze at the terraced house at 10.14pm that night.

Two fire engines went out and firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used a hose reel to extinguish the flames.

Dover Watch Manager, Jamie Muddle said: “The woman had put some oil on to cook her dinner and left the room for a short while.

“Unfortunately, as we’ve seen, a fire can start very quickly and the effects can be devastating.

“Luckily, the woman had working smoke alarms that did their job and she has her neighbours to thank for her lucky escape.“

The fire had taken hold of the kitchen, destroying the cooker, extractor and kitchen units and causing smoke logging throughout the terraced house.

Firefighters also used a thermal imaging camera to check for fire spread and hot spots.