Colchester family safely escape house fire
A 'severe' fire was found in a bedroom on Thursday evening
A family in Colchester 'did the right thing' when a bedroom in their home caught fire last night.
That's from Essex Fire, who were called out to St Andrews Avenue and found the door to the room had been shut to try and contain flames.
The couple with their young child had managed to get out safely.
Station Manager Danny Partridge said:
"Crews, including two firefighters who recently completed their training, were faced with a severe fire in the bedroom.
"They did a really good job in quickly getting it under control and clearing the smoke.
"Thankfully the occupants did exactly the right thing when they found the fire; they closed the bedroom door, got out, stayed out and called 999.
"Because they shut the door, the fire damage was restricted to the bedroom and it minimised the smoke damage to the rest of the first floor."
The fire was fully extinguished by 7.17pm.
An investigation will be carried out to establish the cause.
Although the property had smoke alarms, they were not sounding, so the incident acts as a reminder to check your smoke alarms are working.
If you or someone you know doesn't have working smoke alarms, EFRS can provide and fit smoke alarms free of charge.
To book a home safety visit, call 0300 303 0088 or book online at www.essex-fire.gov.uk/book