A 13-YEAR-OLD girl who led her gran to safety after a fire broke out in her home has been praised as a lifesaver by firefighters.

The teenager, who was visiting her gran's home in Hamstead Road, Normanby, Middlesbrough, earlier this evening was in a front bedroom when she heard a smoke alarm go off.

She went to investigate and saw that a blaze had started in the kitchen, which is in the centre of the bungalow.

Unable to reach her gran, who was in a back room, she ran out of the front door and went back in through a rear door, found her gran and then led her outside. Her grandad was out at the time.

Both were left shocked by the incident and were taken to hospital as a precautionary measure.

Watch manager, Steve Owens, said: "She did a very stirling job. It could have been a lot worse if she had not done exactly as she did.

"The smoke alarm gave an early warning which avoided any fatalities, this shows just how vital they are.

"It was quite a serious fire when we got there."

The fire brigade were alerted at 5.20pm and two crews from Grangetown and one from Middlesbrough responded.

The fire was caused after a chip pan overheated on the cooker, causing fire, heat and smoke damage to the kitchen and severe smoke damage to the rest of the bungalow.