Great Cornard Hillside Road house fire: Father says family is lucky to be alive after blaze that started with charging laptop

A Suffolk father-of-two who says his family are lucky to be alive after their home was devastated by a fire has urged others to be more aware of the dangers of charging devices overnight.

Mr Gardener, of Hillside Road in Great Cornard, said his family lost everything in the blaze, which started at about 1.45am yesterday with a laptop that was plugged in to charge on a bed.

While his partner and two children, five and 10, were unharmed, he said they were lucky to escape with their lives.

"I had fallen asleep on the sofa downstairs and I was woken up to my partner screaming. I started to run upstairs and I saw the smoke so I ran into the room," he said.

"She was beating the fire with a pillow and I ran downstairs to get a saucepan of water, but by the time I got up there it had gone out of control."

Mr Gardener said they grabbed their children and ran out of the house and, as they left the front door, they heard the roaring sound of the mattress going up in flames.

"My son tried to run back into the house to save his panda toy. He was absolutely screaming," Mr Gardener said.

"It is all a bit surreal. It happened so quickly."

The family are keen to urge others not to charge their devices overnight, particularly in bedrooms, as they can be a huge fire hazard.

"It was literally within minutes. If she [his partner] hadn't woken up when she did she wouldn't be here now," he said.

"The way that bed went up she wouldn't have got out."

Firefighters from Sudbury, Long Melford and Colchester were called to the blaze and battled the flames until 4.57am.

Mr Gardener said their response was amazing, and added that they arrived within 10 minutes of the call.

He also thanked his neighbours, who looked after his children while the fire raged, and the wider Sudbury community who have rallied around to give donations.

"The community has just jumped up to offer whatever they can do," he said.

"It gets us quite emotional really because you're not used to so much kindness in the world, but in these situations everyone is amazing."

The family have set up a drop off point for any donations, particularly children's toys and clothing, at 116 Clermont Avenue in Sudbury.