Ragnar,
The fire happened on the opposite side of the room to the entrance door.
The fact that the door was stained (not painted ) may have had something do with the lady not noticing the fire until she opened the door.
One other thing, with houses having humungous amounts of insulation in the walls these days (we can thank the current Building Act for that here), the fire was more than likely not heard either.

LOL @ Alan, that's a good one mate!. [Linked Image]