Alison Thomas (below) spotted smoke coming from wheelie bins outside the old fire station in Glebe Way PICTURES BY EMMA BENTHAM
A QUICK-THINKING mother-of-two prevented homes and a business from going up in flames.
Six fire engines with 30 firefighters tackled a blaze at the old fire station in Glebe Way, West Wickham, which is now converted into six flats and an auction house.
Alison Thomas, who lives in one of the flats, spotted smoke coming from a wheelie bin behind the building.
She alerted others to call the emergency services at 4.10pm on May 13.
The wind whipped up the flames quickly.
The 32-year-old said: "It caught on the trees and the fence and it went on from there.
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"Literally within minutes it took hold."
The fire spread to the ground floor of the auction house and a neighbouring house while smoke spread to the flats above.
Ms Thomas, who was with her two sons Boyzie, 12, and Sid, seven, said: "In the meantime I kept calling to people. We made sure everyone was out."
"The fire crews came in about 15 to 20 minutes.
"They told everyone to get back and blocked the roads because they thought the whole building was going to go bang at one point.
"It was really frightening. I'm not easily scared."
Steve Winter, 43, who runs the furniture shop in the building, Central Furniture, said: "Alison deserves a medal. If she hadn't seen it, it would have been too late.
"Another five minutes the whole thing would have gone up.
"I would have been out of business. The fire crew were pretty brave having to go inside.
"They got it with a few minutes to spare."
Firefighters from Beckenham, Bromley, Forest Hill and Addington took one-and-a-half-hours to bring the flames under control.
Three people were led to safety from the first floor by fire crews.
One person was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.
The auction house and one home had fire damage while the flats suffered smoke damage.
Posted by: Your Lord Erastus Theobald Piggott The All Knowing Guru, The Breakfast Room on 6:23am Sat 17 May 08
It is a wonder that the entire population of [bold]Erith[/bold], [bold]Thamesmead[/bold], [bold]Abbey Wood[/bold], [bold]Swanscombe[/bold], [bold]Northfleet[/bold], the [bold]Crays[/bold], [bold]Belvedere[/bold] and especially [bold]Swanley[/bold], are not being treated for smoke inhalation at any one time; cigarette smoke inhalation, that is.
Still, I suppose their lungs are so coated with tar that the smoke no longer has any effect.
If their lungs were removed at a post mortem it would be discovered they each contains approximately the same amount of soot as one of the chimneys [bold]steeplejack Fred Dibnah[/bold] was so expert at demolishing.
[bold]Your Lord, Erastus Theobald Piggott[/bold]
It is a wonder that the entire population of Erith, Thamesmead, Abbey Wood, Swanscombe, Northfleet, the Crays, Belvedere and especially Swanley, are not being treated for smoke inhalation at any one time; cigarette smoke inhalation, that is.
Still, I suppose their lungs are so coated with tar that the smoke no longer has any effect.
If their lungs were removed at a post mortem it would be discovered they each contains approximately the same amount of soot as one of the chimneys steeplejack Fred Dibnah was so expert at demolishing.
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