Dramatic pictures reveal the aftermath of a fire which tore through a mother’s home – forcing her to flee with her dog.

Deirdre O’Neil woke as the alarm sounded and smoke billowed from the kitchen in her bungalow at about 11pm on Thursday.

A plume could be seen from a mile and a half away as she watched the flames engulf her new home, while the roof collapsed.

Neighbours in Sheppey Way, Iwade, near Sittingbourne, rallied around – providing tea, blankets and helping to check the welfare of her miniature poodle Patch.

Firefighters fought back the flames, understood to have triggered inside an extractor fan, for three hours as Ms O’Neil was taken to safety.

The damage is estimated to be about £30,000, according to her son Terry O’Neil, who warned others to check their fire-alarm batteries.

He said: “The alarm saved her life and that is the only good thing that has come out of this – we don’t want this to happen to anyone else.

“Mum has lost absolutely everything, she walked out of there with the clothes on her back and her slippers.

“She saw flames in the kitchen, she phoned me and said ‘my house is on fire’.

“I got to the Sheppey bridge which was about a mile and a half away and I could see the smoke from there.”

Mr O’Neil said by the time he arrived at 11.15pm firefighters were tackling the blaze as the roof collapsed.

He added his mother is being put up in a hotel and, although people are generously offering gifts, they have nowhere to put them.

He added: “The public have been incredible, our neighbours, the fire service, I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped us.”

But it’s the sentimental photos and keepsakes which are the most traumatic items to lose, he added.

Kent Fire and Rescue said four engines fought back the flames for about two hours.

They said the blaze is understood to have started in the attic but the cause of the ignition is currently unknown.