Fire chiefs are warning of the need to have smoke alarms after an elderly woman died in a house fire in Derby. The 85-year-old was killed in the blaze at her home in Porter Road on Tuesday afternoon. The cause of the fire is being investigated.
Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service said the property in Normanton did not have smoke detectors fitted.
Ray Dring, station commander at Kingsway fire station, said her death could have been prevented.
He said: "If she had had a smoke detector then the detector would have been sounding and the passers-by - and there were a number who contacted us - would have heard the alarm and known exactly what it was.
"The smoke had found its way up the chimney as the natural route out of the property.
"The original caller thought it was nothing more serious than a chimney fire."