A courageous 98-year-old woman battled to put out the fire from her blazing kitchen with the help of a saucepan filled with water. In the process, the woman became ill with smoke inhalation.

On Tuesday night, when firefighters appeared at her dwelling in Moonah, north of Hobart, she was engulfed by flames. The firefighters said that had they not turned up on time, things would have become very critical.

The woman would have been overpowered by smoke, if the firemen had got late. They, however, applauded the woman’s valour.

A firefighter said that they looked around the house and located the woman, who was struggling to combat the fire.

Stuart Males of the Tasmanian Fire Service said, "She was at the kitchen bench trying to fill up a bowl full of water to try to throw on the flames, and most of the kitchen was on fire. She was quite convinced she was going to stay there and put the fire out".

The woman was rushed to the Royal Hobart Hospital, and treated for smoke inhalation. She is now reported to be in a stable condition.

The fire was said to be accidental, and the probable cost of the damage came around to be $100,000, according to the firefighters.