Fire death – Tributes to pensioner Kathleen Wallace

Published: 11 March 2010
by CHARLOTTE CHAMBERS

NEIGHBOURS have paid tribute to a housebound pensioner who died in a fire at the flat she had lived in for more than 30 years.

Friends described how Kathleen Wallace, 83, had been unable to leave her Sidney Boyd Court home in West End Lane in West Hampstead for more than a decade due to chronic arthritis and other illnesses.

She died in hospital on Friday just hours after being pulled from the blaze at her flat by firefighters.

Neighbours were beaten back by the flames as they attempted to save Ms Wallace.

Ronnie Nolan, who lived above her, said he was “choked” by the tragedy and had tried everything to get into her home when he realised there was a fire. 

“I did my damndest to get in, but fair play to the Fire Brigade who got here in two minutes,” he said. 

Ms Wallace was known to be a heavy smoker and friends suspect a cigarette may have started the blaze, which is being investigated by the Fire Brigade.

Neighbours recalled Ms Wallace’s love of watching EastEnders and Coronation Street – loudly due to her hearing problems – and how she always read the New Journal and Daily Mirror newspapers. Residents of the block said she loved listening to traditional Irish songs from her youth.

But neighbour Fatima Umar said in recent years Ms Wallace had suffered constant pain from a series of health-related problems.

“She had every illness imaginable,” said Ms Umar. “She would watch the world through her window. I’d wave at her and sometimes she’d wave back. I miss her badly and the thought she went like that, lying unconscious, broke my heart.”

Residents are now seeking permission from the council to plant a tree in the estate’s gardens as a tribute.