Chelmsford firefighters dealing with a difficult roof fire in Margaretting rushed to a nearby street after a mother collapsed in her home.

Two firefighters gave the woman, believed to have had a stroke, resuscitation and oxygen whilst the rest of the Chelmsford white watch team and Ingatestone's retained firefighters battled with the cottage fire.

The fire service had been alerted by a bus driver on his mobile phone who saw a pall of smoke billowing from the roof of a semi-detached cottage on the Main Road.

"The couple in their 30s were unaware anything was wrong because the fire was entirely in the roof space, but the bus driver stopped and told them." said Stn Off Justin Johnston.

He added: "While all this was going on and the police had shut the road off some children came running up with flashlights to say their mum had collapsed.

"We gave her oxygen until medical assistance arrived. All in all it was a pretty busy time."

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Published Thursday, March 21, 2002