A family of three are counting their blessings after a smoke detector alerted them to an exploding fridge fire which threatened their lives.

We're so lucky - Ian Eustace with the smoke alarm that awoke him. Picture: LUAN MARSHALL VTET713

The Eustace family, from Glenmere in Vange, were woken at 2am by their alarm and rushed to investigate smoke billowing out of the kitchen.

Initially Sheryl, 44, and son Evan, 17, couldn't locate the blaze, but when they opened the kitchen cupboard they were confronted by raging flames from the fridge-freezer unit.

They pushed the cupboard door shut to stop the fire and smoke spreading. Upstairs husband Ian, 48, was switching off the electricity, but without realising he cut off Evan's phone call to the fire brigade.

A call was eventually made to the fire service who arrived soon after to extinguish the fire at the three-storey townhouse. Investigations suggest that the old fridge overheated and ignited combustible items around it.

Ian, who moved to the UK with his family from Zimbabwe three years ago, said: "We are very, very lucky. This could have been a lot worse. If we hadn't had the alarm it could have been too late for us by the time we woke up. I wouldn't like to think about it."

Published Friday January 23, 2004

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