Faulty fridge caused heartbreaking blaze
AFIRE which left a family homeless and killed their dog was caused by a faulty fridge freezer.
Hayley Moss, 27, and partner Martin Moorcroft, 29, have spoken of their heartbreak after the blaze tore through their home on Cornbrook Road, on the Moss Estate in, Macclesfield. All their possessions were destroyed and they are now living in a hotel.
The couple had been out for a drive with newborn baby Ava and Hayley’s sons James Barsted, seven, and Jordon Barsted, six, at lunchtime on Sunday, October 23, when the fire broke out.
Their pet dog Tyra was killed in the blaze.
Now a report by fire investigators has revealed the blaze was caused by a faulty Beko fridge freezer.
It comes five years after Beko began contacting customers to replace potentially defective machines in some Beko fridges, which had been linked to fires.
It is not known whether the family’s reconditioned fridge, which they bought last year from BrightHouse in Macclesfield, was one of the models affected.
Hayley, a hairdresser, said: “It’s devastating seeing everything destroyed and we’re all so upset about Tyra. Martin has lost his sidekick. We only had the fridge freezer for a year and didn’t think anything was wrong with it. If we’d been in the house, we could have been killed. You don’t expect to go out and your fridge freezer to set on fire. We’ve lost everything.”
Just 45 minutes into their drive a panicked neighbour rang to say smoke was coming from the house. The family rushed back as friend Kiomi Walker and other neighbours tried to save the family dog Tyra, a three-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier, from the house. They broke down the front door but thick smoke prevented them from going in and they couldn’t save Tyra.
Three fire crews fought the blaze but the toxic smoke destroyed every room. Tyra was found dead in the living room.
The family bought the reconditioned fridge freezer from BrightHouse in Macclesfield last November but do not know the model number or when it was made.
An incident report has shown the cause of the fire to be their Beko fridge freezer.
A Beko spokesman said: “The safety of our customers comes first however we have not been made aware of this incident.
“We urge the customer to get in touch so we can investigate further.”
Station Manager Neil Winstanley, from Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “Any fire can be lethal but fires involving fridge freezers develop rapidly and produce an enormous amount of toxic smoke. We believe the most probable cause of the fire was the fridge freezer. Thousands of consumers are missing out on product safety warnings as they fail to register their appliances. I urge everyone to visit registermyappliance.org.uk.”
The Express contacted BrightHouse but had not heard from the company at the time of going to press.