Family ‘lucky to be alive’ after fire in village near Rushden

Sharp-eyed neighbours who alerted a family to a fire that was ripping through their bungalow have been thanked for saving their lives.

The Kelly family had been fast asleep in their Podington home when they were alerted to a blaze in their garage after neighbours saw flames.

Jack Kelly, his parents and his girlfriend all escaped and waited for emergency services to arrive in the early hours of Saturday, October 1.

Graduate Jack, 21, had recently returned to live with his parents in their new dream home and was woken by his dad telling him urgently to get out.

He said: “I was rudely awoken by my dad bursting through my door screaming 'fire, get the f*** out!' at 5.30am.

"We couldn’t see anything but it sounded as if the fire was on top of us. We got outside and there were flames 3m high from the carport. It was slowly working towards the house.

"Luckily our neighbour who is a nurse was awake. She happened to be up and she noticed it was really bright outside.”

The family were woken by the neighbours who banged on the windows. Their smoke alarms hadn’t gone off as the smoke had gone into the roof space.

Fuel for the family’s wood burner stored next to the bungalow’s garage added to the blaze.

Fire crews from Harrold, Wellingborough and Bedford attended the emergency.

Jack said: “We just stood there. There was no getting into the house, the fire was just too big. It was a difficult moment.”

Because the family had recently moved many of their belongings were still yet to be unpacked, stored in the garage, including his prize skateboard.

He said: “It’s my prized possession. It was in the garage but luckily it was in a leather bag.”

Since the fire, the family have been overwhelmed by the support from neighbours, family and friends. They moved in with Jack’s brother in Raunds. Since then they have been housed in a hotel.

He said: “I’m lucky to be alive. My mum has been emotional. My dad was always someone who struggled to accept help, but the community has really helped. It’s been touching to see.”

Jack took to social media to tell the skate community his precious board had been saved but the majority of their possessions were destroyed. Friends have offered financial help.

He said: “Thankfully we are all okay but we did lose the majority of our possessions, half the house, half of our furniture, two cars and a roof.

“We were finally allowed to start moving our stuff and seeing if there is anything able to be recovered. It's been heart-breaking finding only a few scattered photos and reminders of our childhood. Hopefully it will only get better from here and everyone's support has been helping us get through.

”It has been extremely amazing the amount of help people have given me and my family. Not in a million years would I have thought that the response would be like this.”

A Go Fund Me page has raised £1,830.

Jack added: “Thank you all so much and I'm so grateful for every one of you."