TWO teenagers forced their way into a burning house to try to save a disabled 68-year-old woman who was trapped in the fire.

Despite the brave efforts of Sam Freemantle and Alex Lear, the pensioner, named as Sandra Jordan, died of smoke inhalation

Sam, 15, and Alex, 16, were in their hometown of Northleach on Monday at 8pm when they saw black smoke coming from doors and windows of a bungalow in Fortey Road.

The pair leapt into action, running to the house and attempting to force their way in through the front door.

Finding the inner of the two doors locked, the teenagers jumped a fence and into the back garden, gaining entry through the back door.

Inside they heard the woman screaming for help and tried to make their way towards her but the smoke had become so thick they could not breathe and the fire was starting to make the house dangerously hot.

Eventually they heard the cries for help stop.

By the time they got out emergency services had arrived, with one fire engine arriving from Northleach Fire Station in under 10 minutes.

“We kept calling out and asking where she was but she kept just screaming for help. Then all of a sudden the screaming stopped,” Sam said.

“I was scared but the thought of helping that woman kept me going.

“I don’t know her well but I see her every morning when I walk to school and we usually smile at each other.”

Despite the trauma of what happened, Sam chose to go to school the next day.

He lives with his father Stephen Freemantle in Fortey Road, around 100m from where the fire happened.

Stephen said: “They could see the smoke wasn’t coming from the chimney and they didn’t think twice before running to help.

“Helping people like that is something you just do, it’s something in the family – we’ll always help people out – but we don’t like to make a fuss about it.

“Unfortunately Sam will have to live with what he saw forever.”

The woman is said to have had a life-long spinal disability which kept her in a wheelchair and necessitated carers, which means she may not have been able to move.

Her next of kin has been informed and an inquiry is now underway to find the cause of the fire.

A couple named as Mr and Mrs Dyson who live in the bungalow next door had no idea the house was on fire until neighbours managed to rouse them with frantic knocking.

Tina Fletcher, who lives opposite, was the first to ring 999.

“Big thick smoke was billowing out of the house and you could hear everything crackling inside,” she said.

“The fire brigade came very quickly but I don’t think there was anything they could do.”

Neighbours reported that the woman had lived in the area for her entire life but was rarely seen out.

Police are not treating the incident as suspicious.