Stamford Hill family in ‘remarkable’ escape after trying to extinguish house fire themselves

A family had a “remarkable” escape from a fire in their Stamford Hill home after trying to tackle it themselves with a garden hose.

The house in Hillside Road had no smoke alarms fitted and the blaze, which started in a large freezer, spread quickly from the ground floor up to the first floor.

Four adults and a child were in the property when one of them heard a bang in the dining room and saw the chest freezer in flames.

They then tried to extinguish it before alerting the others and leaving through the front door. Three were forced to climb out of a first-floor window to escape and another left via the back door.

The brigade’s investigators believe the fire was accidental and caused by the failure of a capacitor in a chest freezer.

Watch manager Dean Wilkinson said: “This family had a remarkable and lucky escape. As the property didn’t have smoke alarms, the blaze had really caught hold before anyone noticed.

“Trying to tackle the fire themselves also allowed the fire to develop and delay their escape from the property. Don’t rely on luck - your home should have a minimum of a smoke alarm on every level of your property and you should never try and tackle a fire yourself. Get out, stay out and call 999.

“Firefighters were faced with a fully developed fire when they arrived at the scene with the ground and first floors well alight. Crews worked extremely hard in challenging conditions to bring the fire under control and stopped it from spreading to neighbouring properties.”