A family are lucky to be alive after fleeing their burning house in the early hours of the morning.
The fire service say they were woken by the only working smoke alarm in the house just after midnight and were able to escape safely.
Firefighters then rescued the family dog who was inside the home on North View in South Hylton, Sunderland . Thankfully, the pet was uninjured.
Paramedics attended the scene to check over the family-of-four but they did not need hospital treatment.
A spokeswoman for the North East Ambulance Service said: “We dispatched a Hazardous Area Response Team crew and treated one patient at the scene.”
Two Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service crews used four breathing apparatus, two hose reels and a Positive Pressure Ventilation fan to put the blaze out by around 12.20am.
Green Watch manager Andy Smith said: “The smoke alarm in this property gave this family valuable time to escape the fire. If this family didn’t have the alarm installed the likelihood is, this fire would have had a far worse outcome.”
Official advice from the fire service is that a fire alarm should be installed on every level of a home and they should be tested at least once a week.
