Blaze alarm covered in cling film

Crews from Sheffield's central fire station were called to Sandon View, in the Broomhall area of the city at around 8.30am yesterday.

Two men were asleep in the front room of a second storey flat, with an oil pan on fire on a cooker hob and their smoke alarm covered up.

They only survived because the thick smoke from the fire set off a smoke alarm in a neighbouring flat leading a passer-by to raise the alarm.

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus woke the men, who are in their 20s, and led them to safety, and they were treated by paramedics at the scene.

Watch manager Jim Moll said: "By covering up the smoke alarm, this incident could easily have been much worse, potentially resulting in these two young men's deaths."

More than 20 firefighters also tackled a blaze in a lorry on Monday night. The fire broke out in the vehicle on the A616 near Flouch, north of Sheffield at about 5.15pm. The road was closed while the vehicle was made safe.