Family escape from a serious house fire in Harborough

The shocked couple and their children were shaken up but uninjured
A family escaped unhurt after fire seriously damaged their home in Market Harborough in the early hours today (Easter Monday).A family escaped unhurt after fire seriously damaged their home in Market Harborough in the early hours today (Easter Monday).
A family escaped unhurt after fire seriously damaged their home in Market Harborough in the early hours today (Easter Monday).

A family escaped unhurt after fire seriously damaged their home in Market Harborough in the early hours today (Easter Monday).

The shocked couple and their children were shaken up but uninjured as flames tore through their bungalow in Shropshire Place, off Burnmill Road, just after 1am.

They called Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service to raise the alarm at 1.15am after it’s believed they were alerted by a smoke detector.

At least eight firefighters dashed to the scene in an appliance from Harborough fire station in Fairfield Road and an engine from Kibworth.

Two crewmen wearing breathing apparatus kits tackled the fierce fire in a ground-floor bedroom with one hose reel.

They brought the blaze under control by 1.48am as the stunned family could only look on from the street.

The incident isn’t being treated as suspicious and neither police nor the ambulance service attended.

The fire caused “severe smoke damage to the whole property and moderate fire damage to the ground-floor bedroom”, said the fire brigade.

“The fire was started accidentally due to an overheated electrical item,” said Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service control.

“There was a mix of adults and children at the bungalow.

“Presumably they were woken up by a smoke detector – which just goes to show they crucial they are in saving lives.”

Red Cross Emergency Support volunteers based at Leicester also responded to support the distraught family and help them find emergency accommodation as their home is almost certainly “uninhabitable”.