A carer has described the moment she helped rescue a pensioner from his blazing bungalow.

Lois Laing arrived at the house in Lambourne Road, Bearsted, just before 6am to find smoke coming from the top of the building.

The 36-year-old carer, who owns Maidstone Home Care, climbed over a 5ft fence to get Betty and Dennis Mellor and their 80-year-old tortoise, Horace, to safety.

She said: “I pulled up and could see smoke pouring out of the property.

“I ran from the car and tried to get in. I put my hand on the door handle and it was boiling hot.

“I ran to the back of the property where I found Betty struggling to unlock the gate, I knew I needed to save Dennis so jumped over the fence.”

Miss Laing forced her way in and grabbed bed-bound Dennis Mellor, 86, who sleeps in the conservatory.

She added: “By this time the room was full of smoke. My colleague arrived and we both moved him out of the property.”

Michael Hall, 25, who also works for the care firm, based in Rochester Road, Aylesford, helped carry Mr Mellor from the burning building.

The carers were supposed to be visiting the property at 9am on Monday. However the night before, Mrs Mellor rearranged the appointment to 6am.

Before they arrived, Mrs Mellor had dialed 999 and waited in the garden for fire crews.

She could see the flames through the glass and realised smoke had started filling the conservatory where her husband of 61 years was getting engulfed.

The 84-year-old said: “If we hadn’t changed the time of the appointment and those carers weren’t here, we wouldn’t be here now.

“We never thought something like this would happen to us, it was frightening how quickly the flames spread.

“It really is a miracle we’re both here now. Two minutes later and it would have been a very different outcome.”

They were taken to Maidstone Hospital as a precautionary measure, but released later that day.

Firefighters arrived at the property about five minutes after the carers did and spent two hours tackling the blaze, thought to have started in a gas meter cupboard.

Howard Dellow, Maidstone watch manager at Kent Fire and Rescue, said: “When we arrived at the scene the fire was just minutes away from taking full hold of the property.

“The quick actions of the two care workers in starting to bring him out, with considerable risk to themselves, saved his life.”

The front room and hallway of the property, where the Mellors have lived since 1970,
were affected by flames and the rest of the property was smoke-logged.