A WOMAN had to flee as fire ripped through her Sheffield home - seven years after her son died in a chip pan blaze in the same house.
Kathleen Bingham managed to escape her blazing home on Batemoor Walk, Batemoor.
Her 21-year-old son Kyle died in November 2001 when he was overcome by fumes after his chip pan burst into flames as he slept in the lounge.
Firefighters discovered the battery had been removed from the smoke alarm when Kyle died.
An investigation is underway into the cause of the latest blaze.
Neighbours said during the blaze on Saturday night Mrs Bingham had called out her son was inside.
Hero neighbour Kevin Ward went inside and braved the heat and smoke to search the house because of fears there may have been a child trapped inside.
The 42-year-old single dad-of-two went upstairs and searched the bedrooms while firefighters were on their way.
He also went in for a second time when he discovered another neighbour - animal lover Tracey Shaw, 44 - had entered the burning house to look for a cat she believed to be trapped inside.
He dragged her outside to safety after finding her struggling for breath on the stairs.
Mrs Shaw said she owed her life to him, describing him as her "hero".
"I am an animal lover and heard there was a cat inside so I just felt that I should try and find it, but it was so dark and smoky it was terrible," she said.
"I was on the stairs and couldn't breathe when Kevin found me - a few seconds later and I would not be here today - I owe him my life. He is a hero."
Mr Ward, whose 17-year-old daughter Phillipa Ward is a fire cadet, said her advice helped keep him safe.
"I just went into autopilot - when people were screaming that there might have been a child inside I didn't think of the consequences I just went inside to look," he said.
"It was the natural thing to do if there had been a child in there - I just wanted to help. I didn't think of my own safety - all I was bothered about was looking for the child they were telling me was inside.
"Because I know the layout of the house - it is the same as ours - I could feel may way around the rooms, even though I couldn't see.
"My daughter was also a help because she was telling me the procedure for entering burning properties and shouting out advice."
Phillipa said: "The confusion over whether there was a child in the house came because the woman who lived there was saying her son was inside. We think now that she was having a flashback to when her son died all those years ago."
In December 2005 three members of the same family – Anthony Brightmore, aged 68, wife Patricia, 65, and their 35-year-old blind son Stephen – died on the same street after a blazing bin was pushed up against their door.
Neighbour Adam Walker, 37, said: "I have grown up here and I know Katie. I moved away for a bit but I know she had a son who died in a fire at the house. Her house is next door but one and it is more or less opposite where the Brightmores lived."
South Yorkshire Fire Service's Darren Staniland, said: "Obviously the safest advice people should follow during a house fire is to get out of the property and allow firefighters to tackle the blaze.
"However, it is important to recognise Mr Ward's instinctive actions at this incident, when he very bravely rescued a neighbour from the property."
Home 
