Warning after family flee house blaze

A SENIOR fire officer has issued an urgent safety warning after a north Suffolk family had a lucky escape from a house fire.

A family, including a two-year-old boy, were forced to flee their home in Throckmorton Road, Bungay, when it became engulfed in smoke.

The blaze started shortly before 9am yesterday in the kitchen of the home close to Bungay Middle School.

It is believed the fire stated in the kitchen when the youngster was playing with a cooker hob.

The youngster, along with a man and a woman, were taken to the James Paget Hospital at Gorleston, suffering from smoke inhalation.

Their injuries are not believed to be serious.

However, fire officers who attended the scene said the family had had a lucky escape and warned parents not to let their children play with kitchen appliances.

Fire crews from Bungay, Beccles, Halesworth and Loddon managed to confine the fire to the ground floor of the property although there was smoke damage to the bedrooms n the first floor of the house.

Assistant Divisional Officer Nigel Richens, of Normanshurst fire station in Lowestoft, said there were two smoke alarms in the house but neither was working at the time of the fire.

"We believe the fire began in the kitchen after the toddler began playing with switches on a cooker hob," he said.

"We were able to contain the fire I the kitchen, but smoke spread rapidly through the rest of the house," said Mr Richens.

It was only after the fire was brought under control that fire crews realised just how lucky the family had been.

"The family were able to get out of the house themselves. But we discovered afterwards that doors had been left open and that two smoke detectors in the property were not working," said Mr Richens.

"We want to get across the message that it is vitally important to fit smoke alarms and test them regularly.

"Children should not be allowed to play with appliances like cookers and doors should be kept closed to prevent fires from spreading," he said.