A SMOKE alarm saved a woman’s life after a fire broke out while her councillor husband was at a meeting.

Firefighters rushed to Linden Way, Canvey, after a halogen lamp sparked a blaze in the loft at Barry and Dot Palmer’s house.

When Mrs Palmer first smelt smoke she assumed it was coming from a neighbouring property.

Her husband, a Canvey Independent Party councillor for the island’s South ward, was out at Castle Point Council meeting, in Kiln Road, Thundersley.

Mrs Palmer said: “While I was tidying up the loft I had pushed an old banana box up against some halogen lamps.

“I hadn’t really noticed at the time and then the phone rang and it was a friend who had called for a chat.

“I could smell smoke and I thought it was the house next door so I just shut the door and carried on taking to my friend.

“When I had finished on the phone I went back to the loft and there was lots of smoke and the box was glowing.

“The smoke alarm went off and I called the fire brigade I then carried the box downstairs and put it outside in the garden and hosed it down.

“The fire service came and they gave me an oxygen mask just a precaution and they checked me over.”

The blaze broke out shortly before 8pm on Wednesday.

Mr Palmer was just leaving the council headquarters when he received a call from his wife.

He said she is lucky to have escaped unharmed, and urged people to understand the danger of using halogen lamps.

Mr Palmer said: “People will think that these lights are safe but the bulbs get very hot.

“There is no real damage just a lot of black on the ceiling in the loft from all the smoke.”

A spokesman for Essex Fire Service said the incident has highlighted the importance of smoke alarms.

He added: “The homeowners were alerted to the fire by their working smoke alarm before getting out and calling 999.

“One hose reel jet was used to extinguish the fire by 8.35pm. “A ventilation fan was used to clear the property of smoke.

“Essex Fire Service wants 100 per cent of homes in Essex to have a working smoke alarm.”