A grandfather and his family was saved from a ‘horrific’ house fire when his dogs alerted him to the blaze.
Tony Baker, 59, and wife Jacky, 68, were asleep when the roof of their terraced house caught fire at about 3.20am today after fire that reportedly started in a neighbour’s cannabis factory.
It’s understood an electrical fault caused the fire in their neighbour’s roof, spreading to the former retailer’s Leicester home.
Because the fire was originally concentrated to the attic, the property’s smoke alarms didn’t sound, meaning that the retired couple could have been exposed to burning timbers.
Holly and Poppy alerted Tony Baker after a fire spread to the roof of his house in Leicester
But the grandfather-of-four was woken up when border terriers Holly, one, and Poppy, three, rushed to his bedroom and frantically tried to wake him up.
Eventually the dad-of-three was able to escape with Jacky, a former caretaker, grandson Jack, 16, and the dogs.
Fire spread through the roofs of four homes, gutting them in the process and the family have now been forced to take up residence with Mr Baker’s 41-year-old daughter Tracey.
After reportedly starting in a cannabis factory, the fire spread to three other roofs in the street
Mr Baker said he immediately went to warn his neighbours and call the emergency services.
‘It’s been horrific, but it would have been so much worse had it not been for Holly and Poppy,’ he said.
‘We were fast asleep when it broke out, as you would imagine at that time of morning, and were completely oblivious to it.
‘As it was only in the roof, the fire alarms for none of the houses went off initially, and I’m not sure how long it would have been before they did go.
‘I was woken up at about 3.30am by the dogs. They were frantically scratching at the bedroom door and barking, desperate to get our attention.
‘I could hear this awful banging too, so perhaps that was what alerted the pair of them to the fire.’
But Mr Baker didn’t realise his own house – with his disabled wife still inside – was on fire, initially thinking his neighbour was the only one in danger.
‘I ran downstairs, and when I looked out of the kitchen window I could see an orange-type glow,’ he said.
Mr Baker says he feels lucky to have escaped the horrific fire alive with his disabled wife
‘At first I thought that it was just next door that was on fire, so I went out to warn them.
‘But as I stepped outside, I saw that our roof was on fire too. It was one of the scariest things I think I’ve seen.
‘I had to rush upstairs to warn the others – Jacky had gone straight back to sleep, because she was completely unaware of it all.
‘She’s disabled, so getting her down the stairs takes some time. I had to almost carry her down, in the end, otherwise we would have been in real trouble.
The terriers woke Mr Baker up when the fire spread to his house after the smoke alarm did not detect a blaze in the roof
‘The dogs rushed straight out – they were petrified, as you can imagine.
‘Just as we were leaving, burning timbers were starting to fall from the ceiling. It’s completely destroyed my wardrobe, all my clothes, Jack’s drum kit and mine and Jacky’s bed.
‘If we’d have stayed in there any longer, we could have been caught in a really horrific house fire, and I think it would have been very tough to get out.
‘Tiles had also started to fall down from the roof, so had we not been woken up when we were, we could have also been blocked in
‘It’s had a really devastating impact on us. The fire and water damage means that our home, along with all of our possessions, have been ruined.
The top levels of four houses were gutted in the fire, which was sparked by an electrical fault
‘On the one hand I feel really unlucky – our house has been ruined, and all of our possessions are gone.
‘But, from the other side of things, I feel very fortunate.
‘Had it not been for Holly and Poppy, one of us or our neighbours could have lost our lives in that fire.’
Six fire engines from Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service rushed to the scene, where Mr Baker was reportedly told the blaze had started in a cannabis factory.
A spokesperson for the service said: ‘Crews were alerted that the roofs of two properties were ablaze.
‘Upon arrival, it had spread into two adjacent properties.
‘Six appliance vehicles were used, as well as an aerial ladder platform, three main jets, three hose reels and four breathing apparatus-wearers.
‘The operation was scaled back at around 6.30am to two ambulances, and eventually to just one.
‘It is understood that the cause of the fire was an electrical fault at one of the properties.’