King's Lynn family 'would have been dead' if they didn't go shopping during furious blaze that left £15K worth of damage on Gaywood street
A family of four said they "would have been dead" if the fire had been a few hours later and they hadn't decided to go shopping as their garden sheds burned yesterday afternoon.
The blaze at Pleasance Close, Gaywood, which neighbour Matt Goldsmith, 50, said "started and spread so fast" left over £15,000 worth of damage to the home and neighbouring properties.
Mum of two and QEH auxiliary nurse Katie Edwards grabbed her two dogs, a French bulldog and a Border terrier, son Kye,10 and daughter Lexi,12 and ran to her mother's house down the road to safety.
She said: "Fires like these have been happening every few weeks, we've already replaced the fence once.
"It's people burning rubbish, and Freebridge are responsible for their property. We were about to have the patio done, but that would have been ruined too.
"The worst thing though, if the fire had been two hours later then we could have been dead, we have highly flammable gas cannisters in the yard and the fire crew said we were lucky."
Ms Edwards' partner Ben Flores works in construction and has worked to build the family's dream home now worth £260,000.
He said: "We've lived here 18 years, my partner grew up here, we spent ages saving for this place and its horrible to see this happen - why should we have to keep working hard and paying our of our insurance?
"The neighbours were also in bits."
Lexy, 12, said: "Everyone on the street was outside in a crowd and we felt scared, the fire spread so fast."
The blaze, which could be seen as far as Dobbies at the Hardwick in Lynn, was put out by fire crews at 15.49pm.
The Norfolk Fire and Rescue log said: "Appliances from Lynn, Sandringham and Hunstanton attended a building fire on Pleasance Close. Crews wore breathing apparatus and used main jets and hose reel jets to extinguish the fire. A thermal imaging camera was used to check for hot spots."
Neighbours who spoke to the Lynn News said they "did not know" who started the fire and were not at home at the time of the incident.
Sophie Bates director of customers and communities at Freebridge said:"We are actively involved in dealing with a complaint about the condition of the garden at Bagge Road. Yesterday we were made aware of an incident where a garden fire got out of control at this address.
"We take fire safety very seriously, and our Tenancy Advisor has visited the tenants and their neighbours today to understand the situation and assist in resolving the immediate issues. We will also be looking into reports of repeated nuisance from fire which we were not previously aware of."
