GAS explosion victim Marilyn Rice is recovering in a specialist burns unit after her Buckfastleigh home was blown up in a blast over the weekend.

She was airlifted to the unit at a hospital in Bristol after the roof was taken off her terraced bungalow home in Barn Park on Saturday morning.

The 65-year-old pensioner, said to be responding well to treatment for 30 per cent burns to her legs and arms, was rescued conscious and confused from the rubble of the wrecked property by a half-dressed, barefooted hero neighbour Jake Huntley, 27.

Oil worker Mr Huntley said: 'I went over to the bungalow not expecting to find anyone alive. But I saw her standing up completely frozen still.

‘I heard this loud hissing and I knew I had to get her out of there. I went to put my arm around her but her she was too hot to touch. It looked like she was trying to say something.’

He added: ‘She was just in complete shock - and I think my touch may have hurt her. Her skin was smoking.’

Homes either side of the destroyed bungalow were also left uninhabitable with one next-door neighbour blown across her room by the impact of the explosion just before 8am. She escaped with minor injuries.

The occupants of the other badly damaged property were away at the time.

Smells of gas had been reported by local residents the day before the drama in nearby Jordan Street, but gas company officials who checked out the immediate locality could not trace the source.

It’s understood no leak was found outside properties in the area, but the devastating consequences of the suspected leak made themselves all too apparent when the blast brought dozens of people out onto the streets in their nightclothes at 7.50am.

Minutes later a fleet of fire engines and police cars swamped the scene where a safety cordon was quickly established. Two cars parked outside the site of the blast were badly damaged by flying debris.

Gas and electricity supplies were isolated at all the linked bungalows in the street.

It’s believed the devastation may have been triggered when miraculous survivor Marilyn, a spinster, switched on a light at her home. A spark from the switch might possibly have been the cause, although the suspicion has not been confirmed.

Local residents have already set up a fund to help those affected by the incident. Already more than £1,000 has been raised.

One witness at the scene said: ‘It’s incredible that there was no loss of life. The blast was was so loud and destructive. I can’t believe anyone could have got out alive.’

She added: ‘If the property had not been a bungalow, anyone inside would have been killed by a collapsing floor.’

She confirmed that a young member of the public had scrambled inside the smoking building to rescue its dazed survivor.

About 40 people congregated around the ‘bomb site’ in the aftermath of the explosion.

One of them said: ‘If I had not taken a phone call from my daughter which delayed me, I would have been walking past the property at almost the exact moment of the explosion. I think I was very lucky, as was the poor lady inside.’

Another witness was town Mayor Andy Stokes who was in bed having a cup of tea when he heard the deafening explosion.

‘I jumped out of bed and looked out of the window and saw a massive cloud of debris and dust rising,’ he said.

‘The whole roof of the house had been blown off and was lying in the street with smashed cars in front of it.

‘We obviously thought anybody in there would have a very little chance of surviving, but it turns out there was a lady injured in there,’ he added.

Wales & West Utilities later confirmed that the incident was not caused by the mains gas network. It was helping police and fire officers with their investigation.

Landlords Teign Housing, who have attended the devastated area, are re-housing those affected by the damage to their homes.