Family flee home as fridge freezer catches fire
A family fled their home after they were woken in the middle of the night by their dog barking - to find their fridge freezer had caught fire.
Robert Whild, aged 54, his wife Nicola, 52, and their daughter Danielle, 19, managed to escape their home on Benbridge Close, Coppice Farm after their dog Bailey was disturbed by the smell from the downstairs kitchen.
The blaze tore through the kitchen at about 1.45am on Monday, gutting the room and wrecking the appliances.
The devastated couple have now had to cancel their holiday in Lake Garda in Italy to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary at the end of the month as they begin the huge clean-up.
The fire appears to have been caused by an internal electrical fault in the fridge freezer.
Mr Whild said: "We were woken up by a horrible, toxic smell. The dog woke up agitated which disturbed my wife and then me and my daughter woke up, they evacuated the house while I went to see where the fire was coming from."
Mr Whild found the fire in the kitchen before managing to escape himself and calling emergency services.
Two fire engines, one from Willenhall and one from Bloxwich, arrived at the scene along with an ambulance to check the family over.
"The response of the fire brigade was excellent, they were here within two or three minutes," added Mr Whild.
"It turned our life around in the space of an hour, if we hadn't have woken up we may well have been buried in our sleep.
"We have smoke alarms which went off too, what has happened highlights the need for them."
Work getting the house back into shape will now start and the event has lead to Nicola and Robert having to cancel their holiday plans.
Mr Whild added: "The whole of the kitchen is of no purpose at all, not one appliance is salvageable, it has all got to be gutted out and replastered.
"The room is completely destroyed, the rest of the house has been affected by the smoke which has all got to be cleaned and sanitised.
"We have now had to cancel our holiday abroad to celebrate our 30th anniversary, and it will take nine or ten weeks to repair everything.
"By the beginning of September we should be able to get on as normal."
