An elderly man has died after his house caught fire in Norbury over Easter.
Walter McBride, 79, was pulled from his bedroom on the first floor of his house in Norbury Crescent in the early hours of Saturday morning by firefighters.
Paramedics tried to treat Mr McBride as he suffered from a heart attack before rushing him to St George's Hospital where he died soon after.
Dahabo Abubakar, his next door neighbour, described how she was woken up by her daughter shouting from upstairs.
"It was very early in the morning and I heard my daughter shouting about smoke.
"I had heard an alarm in my sleep but thought it was a police siren.
"When I woke up properly I heard what my daughter was saying as she came to my room.
"There was smoke coming in through the windows. We realised what must be happening and ran outside while my daughter called a fire engine."
Four fire crews arrived 15 minutes later, around 4.30am, to battle the blaze.
It took 21 firefighters more than 45 minutes to put out the fire while some wearing gas masks broke into the house to rescue Mr McBride, who lived alone.
They found the door stuck fast and had to smash the large living room window to get inside.
Most of the ground floor of the house was alight with flames, forcing the fire crews to make sure it did not spread to the neighbouring two properties.
Firefighters found Mr McBride in his bedroom and lifted him outside where the London Ambulance Service tried to resuscitate him at the scene.
"They pulled him out and he was lying on the ground with people from the ambulance trying to tend to him," Ms Abubakar said.
"I think he was lifeless then, it's very sad. He was a nice man and used to pop his head over the garden wall even if he was a bit hard of hearing."
Police attended the scene at 5am, but said the fire is not being treated as suspicious.
A post-mortem to determine the cause of Mr McBride's death is due to take place this week.
The London Fire Brigade have said they are still investigating the cause of the fatal fire.
