My £230k house went up in flames on first day of new year
PROPERTY LEFT UNINHABITABLE AFTER LOFT FIRE
A MAN has told how he had to stand and watch helplessly as his £230,000 home went up in flames in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
Kevin Lee looked on as firefighters fought to save his three-bedroom detached home in Darien Way, Thorpe Astley.
Mr Lee, 24, who lives alone, said: “I was asleep and suddenly woke with a feeling that something was wrong at about 2.30am.
“I went over to the bedroom window and looked out and could see lots of smoke.
“I ran outside and looked up at the house and saw that it was on fire.
“I rang the emergency services and they got here very quickly – in about 10 minutes.
“The firefighters were doing all they could to save the house but all I could do was stand and watch.
“The roof was well alight and you could see lot of flames. I am glad I got out when I did and was not hurt in any way as the house can be fixed.”
Mr Lee said he had no idea when he might be able to move back in.
“It is totally uninhabitable now,” he said.
“Most of the roof has gone. I have no idea when I will be able to move back in after this. I will contact the insurance company to see what happens next.”
Mr Lee, who is in the accounts department of a facilities and management company, said the fire service told him that they thought the blaze had been started by an electrical fault in a CCTV system in his loft.
A fire service spokesman said: “The cause of the blaze is believed to an electrical fault.
“The fire caused 80 per cent damage to the roof and 40 per cent smoke damage to the rest of the house. “No-one was injured in the incident.” Fire crews from Southern, Wigston and Western stations and the aerial ladder platform from Birstall put out the blaze.