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Deaf pensioner slept as neighbours tried to wake her in Clayton West arson attack - Local West Yorkshire News - News - Huddersfield Examiner
A DEAF pensioner last night told how she was ‘lucky to be alive’ after an arson attack on her home.
Sheila Handy, 77, slept on as her neighbours made frantic efforts to wake her as the fire ripped into her Clayton West home.
Finally, a neighbour managed to alert Ms Handy by calling her on the phone and she was able to escape the house as choking smoke poured through every room.
Fire crews who were called to Holmfield Road at around 1.45am yesterday found the blaze had been caused by an arsonist, who set fire to two wheeled bins below the kitchen window.
Watch Commander Richard Meakin said; “She was very, very lucky.
“The only way out of that house was through the room that was on fire”.
Ms Handy, who wears a hearing aid, was in bed, little realising that concerned neighbours were desperately banging on her doors trying to wake her.
Neighbour Marjorie Swift, 83, said: “I could hear banging on my door and a man just shouted ‘Sheila’s house is on fire’.
“All I could think was, she won’t hear us because of her hearing aid but we had to try. I thought I would try her house phone, as I know she has one by her bed.
“It kept ringing out but then she answered it.
“At first she couldn’t understand, then she said, what’s all the banging, and I said ‘your house is on fire’.
Ms Handy managed to get downstairs where the fire was taking hold in the kitchen.
She said: “I got to the hall before I could see thick black smoke coming from the kitchen.
“I managed to open the front door and when I did there was a crowd of people outside in their pyjamas and two fire engines.
“I couldn’t believe it.
“I was coughing because of the smoke and they insisted I go to hospital.”
The incident has shocked the tight-knit community who have rallied round to help Ms Handy get back on her feet.
She added: “Everyone has been so lovely. I am staying with my neighbour as all the utilities have been turned off.
“We had food and flowers brought round to us from neighbours and the police, paramedics and fire service have been fantastic.
A DEAF pensioner last night told how she was ‘lucky to be alive’ after an arson attack on her home.
Sheila Handy, 77, slept on as her neighbours made frantic efforts to wake her as the fire ripped into her Clayton West home.
Finally, a neighbour managed to alert Ms Handy by calling her on the phone and she was able to escape the house as choking smoke poured through every room.
Fire crews who were called to Holmfield Road at around 1.45am yesterday found the blaze had been caused by an arsonist, who set fire to two wheeled bins below the kitchen window.
Watch Commander Richard Meakin said; “She was very, very lucky.
“The only way out of that house was through the room that was on fire”.
Ms Handy, who wears a hearing aid, was in bed, little realising that concerned neighbours were desperately banging on her doors trying to wake her.
Neighbour Marjorie Swift, 83, said: “I could hear banging on my door and a man just shouted ‘Sheila’s house is on fire’.
“All I could think was, she won’t hear us because of her hearing aid but we had to try. I thought I would try her house phone, as I know she has one by her bed.
“It kept ringing out but then she answered it.
“At first she couldn’t understand, then she said, what’s all the banging, and I said ‘your house is on fire’.
Ms Handy managed to get downstairs where the fire was taking hold in the kitchen.
She said: “I got to the hall before I could see thick black smoke coming from the kitchen.
“I managed to open the front door and when I did there was a crowd of people outside in their pyjamas and two fire engines.
“I couldn’t believe it.
“I was coughing because of the smoke and they insisted I go to hospital.”
The incident has shocked the tight-knit community who have rallied round to help Ms Handy get back on her feet.
She added: “Everyone has been so lovely. I am staying with my neighbour as all the utilities have been turned off.
“We had food and flowers brought round to us from neighbours and the police, paramedics and fire service have been fantastic.