Hollywood star Dame Joan Collins has revealed her London home went up in flames after light from a mirror on her window sparked a fire.
The 85-year-old actress has praised her husband, Percy, and firefighters from the London Fire Brigade for “saving my life” during the blaze earlier this month.
Dame Joan was treated by paramedics after she was forced to flee her Belgravia home on April 14.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, the Dynasty actress said “there was two feet of flames and smoke from the ceiling” inside her home.
She said she and her husband had been watching film As Good as it Gets in bed, before “hearing a beep”.
Dame Joan said she thought it was the film, before the couple realised it was their smoke alarm.
She said: “We went outside and believe me, I’m not exaggerating, there was two feet of and smoke from the ceiling”.
While phoning the fire brigade, Dame Joan said her husband bravely grabbed a fire extinguisher to try and put the flames on the curtains.
She said: “He’s my hero, he saved my life”.
Dame Joan added: “I know exactly how it started, which is another thing I want to warn people about.
“There was a mirror on the windowsill and it caught the sun, the sun was very, very low that day. It caused a spark which immediately set fire to the curtains and the curtains were immediately alight.
“The fire people said to me ‘this happens a lot’”.
Dame Joan was later surprised by members of London Fire Brigade on the ITV programme, who advised the correct thing to do was to get out of the building before calling 999.
They added Percy did a “marvellous job” in helping to put the fire out.
