A 75-YEAR-OLD Ipswich great grandmother who escaped her blazing home after being alerted by a smoke detector was today praised by firefighters.Rose Carter, of Waterford Road, was woken by the alarm at around 11.

A 75-YEAR-OLD Ipswich great grandmother who escaped her blazing home after being alerted by a smoke detector was today praised by firefighters.

Rose Carter, of Waterford Road, was woken by the alarm at around 11.45pm on Saturday.

Along with two of her grandchildren, Benjamin Carter-Akers, 19, and Sarah Last, 37, who also live at the house, she was able to flee while flames tore through her kitchen.

Around £1,000 of damage was done to the three-bedroom council house, where Mrs Carter has been living for the past 40 years.

But her family fears the consequences could have been far more severe had the alarm not sounded.

Daughter Jackie Last, 56, also of Waterford Road, said: "If she didn't have a smoke alarm, I dread to think what would've happened.

"The kitchen looks horrendous today but it could've been so much more serious."

Paul Seager, assistant divisional officer at Suffolk Fire Service, added: "Had she not had the smoke detectors, we'd probably have had to rescue them from the first floor.

"We've pushed for everybody to have smoke detectors for many years. Now most people have got them, it's a case of making sure they're in working order.

"It certainly paid off in this case."

The blaze - believed to have been caused by a gas cooker being left on - was dealt with by crews from Princes Street, Ipswich within 30 minutes.

Firefighters also dealt with another kitchen fire in Geneva Road, Ipswich at around 12.30pm on Saturday.

The blaze took two crews from Princes Street ten minutes to douse. No one was reported to be injured in the blaze.

Meanwhile, police were today investigating a trio of suspicious fires in the south east Ipswich area.

The first took hold of a derelict garage, at around 1.20pm yesterday, in Clapgate Lane Ipswich.

Then, around 20 minutes later, two skip fires in Ransomes Europark were doused, shortly followed by a blaze that took hold of piping and fence panelling on a building site in Ravenswood Avenue.