AN 82-year-old grandmother is fighting for her life after she fled from her kitchen with her body engulfed in flames.
Italian expat Valeria Bohannan, of Skerry Rise, Broomfield, suffered severe burns after a cooking accident on Saturday afternoon.
With her clothes on fire, she ran screaming from her front door before her quick-thinking neighbours say they soaked her in water.
Daughter Fiona Grant, 56, said: "We are still waiting to hear news from the hospital, it could go either way.
"It's a huge shock."
About four fire engines, four police cars, an ambulance and a helicopter rushed to the incident shortly after 1.25pm, before Mrs Bohannan was taken to Broomfield hospital.
Julian Norrington, 67, was painting his fence in his home opposite when she emerged from her doorway.
He said: "All of a sudden I heard her shouting, 'Help, help, I'm on fire,' so I ran across and tried to put the fire out as best I could.
"I wrapped her up in my coat to start with and, while my neighbour held her up to stop her from collapsing I went back inside to get water.
"She kept shouting, 'I want to sit down, I want to sit.'
"I then went to my garage and got my fire extinguisher while my wife phoned the fire brigade and that was it.
"It's something I don't want to ever see again. It was terrifying to see someone standing there in flames. The fire had burned her clothes off."
The pensioner added: "I acted on instinct. You can't just stand there and not do anything.
"If I hadn't done something, she wouldn't still be alive."
Neighbour William McClements, 74, who has known Mrs Bohannan for 36 years, said she was a "lovely" woman.
"I came out from my house and she was sitting on her chair but surrounded by medics. She just waved at me and she seemed fine. "She couldn't feel any pain at the time," he said.
"She is a lovely woman and it is a terrible shock."
Another 38-year-old shocked resident reported seeing smoke billowing from the house.
An Essex Ambulance Service spokesman said: "We were called at 13.23pm with a duty manager, hazardous area response team vehicle, rapid-response vehicle, ambulance and air ambulance attending.
"The casualty was a woman in her 80s who suffered serious burns to a substantial area of her body.
"Crews worked hard to treat and stabilise the woman before conveying her to Broomfield Hospital."
The precise cause of the fire is still unknown.
