A fire sparked by a faulty electric blanket is a timely reminder to get blankets checked before use, firefighters say.
Emergency services were called to a house on State Highway 4 at Upokongaro after a bed caught fire late yesterday morning. The house's occupant tried to put it out herself.
"We've got an elderly woman with smoke inhalation," Senior Station Officer Bryce Coneybeer said yesterday at the scene.
A relative of the woman arrived at the house and dragged the burning mattress and bedding outside, where firefighters extinguished it, he said.
The wall beside the bed was scorched but aside from that there was no damage to the house, which Mr Coneybeer said was "fortunate".