A FAMILY had “a lucky escape” when they fled their burning home and a bedroom window then exploded due to the heat.

They left their house in Fairfield Road, Wimborne, when their daughter realised a bedroom was on fire.

Firefighters later discovered the blaze started due to a laptop being left on a bed.

Next door neighbour Ken Fripp ran into the house to try to save their pets. Ken, 59, said the mother from the house came round calling for help.

He said: “She came down to our house shouting ‘Can you help me? My house is on fire.’ “She thought one of her cats was still in there so I went in and up the stairs. The bedroom door was shut so I did not open it.

“Then I went back outside and the glass blew out. It went ‘boom’ and the window blew out.”

Other neighbours told how they were phoned at work by friends telling them there was a fire in their road. Four fire engines were called out.

Station manager Andy Fox, of Dorset Fire and Rescue Service, said the girl was alerted by the smoke alarm and managed to tell the rest of the family so they could get out safely.

The fire was restricted to one bedroom but caused smoke damage in the rest of the first floor.

Mr Fox said they put the fire out using eight sets of breathing apparatus, four hose reel jets and one main line.

He said: “This family had a lucky escape from the fire in their property. But they had planned their escape route and had working smoke alarms.

“The fire was discovered as the smoke alarm activated and the teenage daughter was able to notify the rest of the family giving them the vital time to escape unhurt from their home and then call 999.

“This was a severe fire but it proves that making an escape plan, practising it and having working smoke alarms does save lives. Luckily the family pets also escaped unhurt, Yarna the dog and two cats, Teddy and Pebbles.”

The Red Cross Fire and Emergency Support Service also attended the blaze on Tuesday at 6.45pm.