A BURY family who escaped a fire at their home in the middle of the night say they owe their lives to their smoke alarm.

Darryl Denney and Vicky Brownlie, along with their seven-year-old daughter Kaitlin, were woken by the alarm at their home on Audlum Court, Pimhole, after their fridge-freezer caught fire.

Vicky, aged 29, said: “At first I thought it was the burglar alarm so I just jumped up and that woke Darryl.

“Then I realised it was the smoke alarm so I got my dressing gown and went to get Kaitlin out of bed while Darryl went off downstairs.”

Darryl, also 29, said: “I got downstairs and the kitchen door was shut. But I could see smoke coming from under the door and I thought for a second that maybe I’d left the cooker on from tea.

“So I peeked through the door a bit and I could see flames in the corner coming from the fridge-freezer and there was loads of smoke.

“I shut the door again and was shouting up to Vicky to get Kaitlin and we all just got out of the house.”

Fire crews from Bury and Whitefield arrived around 4.45am and put the fire out before rescuing Kaitlin’s pet hamster, Hammy. Darryl added: “The firefighter asked me if everyone was out and I told him yes, but then I suddenly remembered the hamster, who was in the living room right next to the kitchen. I started preparing Kaitlin for the worst but they managed to get him out.”

Kaitlin said: “He was asleep and might have been scared but the fireman carried Hammy out and he was fine.”

The family was taken to Fairfield Hospital where Vicky and Kaitlin were checked over and Darryl was treated for smoke inhalation.

Firefighter Dave Shimmons, from Bury Fire Station, said: “Darryl did exactly the right thing — he shut the door, got his family out and called us out.

“There was quite a bit of smoke and a team wearing breathing apparatus dealt with the fire. If it hadn’t been for the alarm, it could have been much more serious.”

Now the family is urging everyone to make sure they have a working smoke alarm.

Vicky said: “I used to curse it when it went off if I burnt toast but it actually saved our lives. Now if anyone asks, I’ll tell them how important it is that you have a smoke alarm and you make sure it works and has batteries in.”

Since the fire on Tuesday, June 26, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service crews have been carrying out home safety checks in the area around Audlum Court.