Nine in house blaze escape

NINE people including a three-year-old child had a lucky escape after fire broke out in a house in Higginshaw on Saturday morning.

The blaze started in the ground floor utility room of an end terrace house in Edge Lane Road and quickly spread to the adjoining kitchen.

The homeowners, who had friends staying, were inside the property at the time when they discovered the fire and tried to put it out, but were beaten back by the flames.

The group, aged between three and 42, managed to get out and call the fire brigade just after 11.20am.

Crews from Oldham and Stalybridge spent three hours extinguishing the blaze and stopped the fire from spreading to the first floor bedrooms and neighbouring property.

The house was left severely smoke logged and deemed uninhabitable.

The family, who did not need medical attention are now staying with relatives.

Officers said the cause of the fire was electrical.

Watch Commander Mark Beswick said: “Had the fire happened at night, the situation could have been a lot more serious.

“The family had working smoke alarms in their property but discovered the blaze just before they went off.