THE neighbour of a man rescued from his burning flat has thanked the mystery caller who dialled 999, potentially saving the lives of six people.

Firefighters rescued the 69-year-old man, known locally as Kenny, from the living room of his flat in Deepdale House, in the Red Hall area of Darlington, on Saturday night.

He was taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital suffering from burns and smoke inhalation before being transferred to the Royal Victoria Infirmary, in Newcastle.

His friend and neighbour, Sarah Anderson, has thanked the mystery Good Samaritan who dialled 999, saying they have potentially saved not only her friend’s life, but the life of the five other residents in the block of flats.

“I cannot thank them enough for what they have done. They not only got Kenny out but they have saved the lives of five other people,” she said.

The grandmother-of-eight was just about to go to sleep when she heard a loud bang, which she thought had been caused by youngsters messing around outside.

“I thought I am going to string those kids up, as we did have a lot of problems with the kids around here,” she said.

“I thought of Kenny straight away when I heard the bang. I got up to open the door and was told to shut it straight away.

“It was quite frightening, I didn’t know what to do. I looked out the front and there were loads of people out there.

“Then the fireman flung the door open and said I had to get out.”

The 52-year-old was forced to leave her two pet dogs locked in her bedroom as she joined the crowds that were gathering outside.

“When they brought his door down all this black smoke came out,” she said.

“It frightened the life out of me. When I saw them carry his body out I thought he was dead.

“I started shaking and couldn’t stop. It brought me back to being in Ireland during The Troubles. I still can’t get it out of my head.

“It has shocked everybody in the flats. People have been walking around in a daze.”

Miss Anderson, who has since returned to her flat, said she also wanted to thank the firefighters who arrived at the blaze within six minutes of the alarm being raised.

She added: “The firemen were fantastic, all of them were brilliant. I have never seen them work so fast and how quickly they got him out of the flat.”

A joint police and fire investigation into the cause of the blaze found the kitchen fire was accidental.

Lee Aspery, fire investigation manager for County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service, said: “Cooking with oil at high temperatures can be very dangerous and we would advise people to avoid cooking with chip pans and choose a safer alternative such as oven chips whenever possible.”