Batlow woman praised by Fire and Rescue NSW after rushing into Eurabbie Street house fire to save elderly neighbour

The local pre-school cleaner was walking to work when she noticed flames coming out of a weatherboard home on Eurabbie Street in Batlow, about 4am on Friday.

Upon realising the building was on fire, she entered the house and found a woman, aged in her early 70s, asleep in bed.

The woman guided the occupant to safety before calling emergency services to the scene.

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Both women were then assessed by paramedics but were not taken to hospital.

Chris Cooper, Fire and Rescue NSW's Batlow deputy captain, praised the neighbour for her brave actions.

"If she hasn't been going to work at that hour of the morning ... I'm afraid we would have lost that lady," he said.

"Because the house was well and truly ablaze by the time we arrived and that was only a few minutes later."

Firefighters spent about two hours extinguishing the house fire, which ultimately completely destroyed the home.

The blaze is suspected to have been started by a blanket hung near a wood fire catching alight, sparking reminders to always material at least one metre away from any heater.

"We've already lost six people in preventable residential fires in NSW this winter...we almost lost another," Mr Cooper said.

"The old rule is 'one metre from the heater' and its important for people to remember that."

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