Family's lucky escape: 'Make sure you've got working smoke alarms'

A family had a lucky escape after a fire started in their bungalow.

Our Control team received calls to a fire in Brick House Road, Tolleshunt Major today at 3.43am.

Crews from Tiptree, Tollesbury and Witham attended and found a well-developed fire in the kitchen.

Watch Manager Dave Farrant said: "There were no working smoke alarms so it was lucky that there was an old-style serving hatch between the kitchen and the room where some of the family were sleeping because the smoke woke one of them up.

"They did exactly the right thing at that point: they got their family out, stayed out and called 999.

"However, the incident really emphasises how important it is to have working smoke alarms in your home. If one of the occupants hadn't woken up, the fire would have been fully developed and we could have had a totally different outcome.

"If you haven't got working smoke alarms, spend 10 minutes today to buy some, or book a free Home Fire Safety visit with our Service by calling 0300 303 0088 or visiting essex-fire.gov.uk/book."

The fire was fully extinguished by 4.26am. It is believed it was caused by a faulty fridge freezer.

Watch Manager Farrant said: "I'd like to praise our crews who worked really hard to contain the fire to the kitchen.

"Sadly, it was a severe fire which caused considerable damage to the kitchen, as well as smoke damage to the living area, and has left the property temporarily uninhabitable."

Could you be an on-call firefighter?

Firefighters who attended this incident are on-call firefighters, who all live or work within five minutes of an on-call fire station and attend incidents.

If you live or work within five minutes of an on-call fire station, you could be an on-call firefighter too.

Find out more about the role at join.essex-fire.gov.uk/on-call