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Sunderland family's television blaze terror

Sep 11 2011 by Kerry Wood, Sunday Sun

SAVED from tragedy, a family has relived the moment they woke to find their home engulfed in flames after a freak fire broke out.

As 17-year-old Vikki Arklay slept, her television set caught light, toppling over at the bottom of her bed, and setting fire to clothes.

The sparks took hold and a blaze broke out just metres away from the sleeping teenager.

Luckily Vikki, her mum Diane, brother Jamie, 22, and his friend staying over at the time, were roused by the trill of the smoke alarm and were able to flee to safety.

Diane, 40, was first to wake when the alarm sounded. Still shaken from the unexpected ordeal, she said: “My husband Paul had gone to work at 5.30am and I’d fallen back to sleep. The first I knew that something was wrong was when I was woken by the alarm. I immediately thought the kids must be in the kitchen and so ran downstairs but there was nothing.

“It was only as I ran back upstairs that Vikki ran out of her room in panic saying the fire was in there.

“When you stop to think about it she was extremely lucky. Things could have been so much worse.