Fire crews raced to bedroom blaze in Hersden
by Jamie
Bullen
jbullen@thekmgroup.co.uk
A teenage girl sent her bedroom
up in flames last night after leaving a scented candle burning on a
chest of drawers.
The accidental blaze is believed
to have been sparked when the candle fell into a drawer filled with
clothes.
Lauren Howard, 14, had left the
candle – given to her as a present - burning in her room in Larch
Close, Hersden.
The blaze set off the smoke
alarm and fire crews raced to the house shortly before
7pm.
Lauren, her mum Rachael Fagg,
stepdad John and nine-year-old brother Joshua all managed to get
out of the house before firefighters arrived.
Crews managed to contain the
flames within Lauren’s bedroom, which suffered severe smoke
damage.
Rachael, 42, said: "She came
down screaming ‘mum, mum, my bedroom is on fire!’.
"Luckily everyone was fine and
we got out quickly. The fire crews were very quick and our
neighbours were wonderful, keeping us going with hot chocolates
until we got back in.
"I suppose if we had left it
could have been much worse. We are now getting in touch with our
insurers.
"Lauren is devastated about what
happened. It was an accident and she won't be doing it
again."
In a statement, Kent Fire and
Rescue Service said: "We remind everyone to always be careful when
using candles, to never use them near flammable materials or to
leave them unattended.
"This is also a timely reminder
about how essential a working smoke alarm is."
29/11/12
- Click here for more Canterbury news...
- Click here for more news from across the county...