A Warrington woman has said that there was “no doubt” that her and her family would have been killed in a house fire if she didn’t have a smoke alarm.
Kirsty Tarbuck, 35, of Odessa Walk, Great Sankey, Warrington, has appealed for people to install or check their smoke alarm after a set of men’s electric hair clippers, which had been left plugged in but were switched off, caught fire and damaged her kitchen.
Kirsty, who works as a logistics manager, said that when the smoke alarms went off in her house at midnight on Monday May 8th she thought there was a error because she couldn’t smell smoke.
Kirsty said: “I was still awake and within seconds all three alarms went off. I just thought they were broken because I couldn’t smell any smoke. My husband, Roy, opened the door to the kitchen and there was a layer of black smoke at the top of the room. There was flames, the hob was engulfed.”
Kirsty ran upstairs and woke up her eight-year-old step daughter Marie, while Roy got their two sleeping dogs – a German Shepherd called Shadow and a Beagle called Elvis – out of the kitchen.
Kirsty said: “There is no doubt that we would have been dead if the fire alarm didn’t go off. The kitchen is right by the front door so that is our exit point.
“I have a hard-wired smoke alarm and I just want people to get a smoke alarm or if they have one to check it to make sure they are working.
We got out because of the smoke alarm. We couldn’t even smell smoke downstairs until we went into the kitchen, that’s how good they are.”
As a result of the fire the hob in the kitchen was badly damaged and there was extensive smoke damage throughout the property. The clippers were totally destroyed.
Lynsey McVay, service delivery manager for Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “This family were really lucky that they had a working smoke alarm and they were alerted very quickly to the fire.
We recommend not leaving any electrical items plugged in overnight.
This could have been a much more serious incident. Once they had discovered the fire the family did the right thing by getting out, staying out and calling 999.”
Cheshire Fire advises that there is a working smoke alarm on every floor of your home. For more information about smoke alarms please visit www.cheshirefire.co.uk
