Lucky escape for Ely family after faulty bread maker leads to kitchen fire on Orchard Estate

An Ely family had a lucky escape after a fire broke out in their kitchen overnight.

The blaze, which happened on Orchard Estate at 6.36am this morning, was caused by a bread maker that had developed a fault.

Watch Commander Clive Allen, the officer in charge at the scene, said: “It is not always advisable to leave electrical appliances running throughout the night as there is a risk they could malfunction and cause a fire.

“In this case the occupants had working smoke alarms that alerted them to the fire and they were able to evacuate the property safely and call 999.

“They had also closed the doors around the house before they went to bed, which really helped with containing the fire to just the kitchen.

“The family had a lucky escape as this fire could have developed very quickly.

“However by ensuring their smoke alarms were working and going through a well-planned bedtime routine of closing doors, they helped contain the fire and keep the damage to a minimum.”

One crew from Littleport and another from Chatteris were called to the incident.

Wearing breathing apparatus they extinguished the fire using a hose reel and cleared the smoke using a positive pressure ventilation fan.

The crews returned to their stations by 8.25am.