A MYSTERY real-life Superman is being thanked for saving a mother and her four children from a house fire.
Danielle Triggs was at home in Gascoigne Road in the estate at about 8.45am on Monday when a fire broke out upstairs.
As she scrambled to tackle the blaze before firefighters arrived, a stranger rushed in from the street to help.
But before she could thank the man, whom she described as black and of medium build, he vanished.
Danielle, 25, said: "I managed to put most it out myself but he came in and put the rest of it out.
"If it wasn't for him I don't know what would have happened.
"I want to say thank you to him."
Ms Triggs' mother, Teresa Henty Horn, had rushed over from her house in nearby Fieldway when she heard about the fire. She said: "We want to say thank you to the guy that ran in and put the fire out.
"We did not have a chance to say thank you or anything – to be honest I don't know what else might have happened.
"You could see the flames out of the window and the front door was open.
"He just came from nowhere and then disappeared. Like Superman or something."
Firefighters arrived shortly after, along with ambulances.
Danielle and her four children were taken to hospital and checked over for smoke inhalation but were released unharmed.
Her eldest son, 8-year-old Lee, was also praised for alerting his mother to the fire and helping grab his young brother.
Ms Triggs said: "He took his two-year-old brother while I took my one-year-old outside. I am very proud."
Ms Horn said: "He is going to be really spoilt this week
"I am hoping to take him up to the fire brigade to see if they can just give him a little thumbs up."
She added: "The firefighters were also fantastic. They not only did their job, they stayed for a while supporting and comforting us."
The damage was confined to one room of the semi-detached house.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Twenty-one firefighters and three fire engines, two from New Addington and one from Biggin Hill, were sent to the scene just after 8.30am.
