Couple's lucky escape after fire in Hartlepool

A couple had a lucky escape after their garden shed quickly went up in flames.
Damage at the home in Lumley Square, Hartlepool after a shed fire on Monday, March 5. 2018.Damage at the home in Lumley Square, Hartlepool after a shed fire on Monday, March 5. 2018.
Damage at the home in Lumley Square, Hartlepool after a shed fire on Monday, March 5. 2018.

Colin Price, 78, and his wife Carol were watching TV soaps on Monday night when a fire started in their shed, spreading to the back of the house.

After trying to put out the fire himself Colin and Carol quickly got out of their home in Lumley Square, on the Headland, while they waited for the fire brigade to arrive.

Damage at the home in Lumley Square, Hartlepool after a shed fire on Monday, March 5. 2018.Damage at the home in Lumley Square, Hartlepool after a shed fire on Monday, March 5. 2018.
Damage at the home in Lumley Square, Hartlepool after a shed fire on Monday, March 5. 2018.

The cause is so far a mystery and will be investigated.

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Mr Price, a retired Hartlepool dock worker, told the Mail: “We were watching the soaps on TV and there was a bang.

“I thought someone may be trying to break into the shed.

“I came out, put my slippers on and saw a glow through the window and thought ‘good God, that looks like fire’.

Damage at the home in Lumley Square, Hartlepool after a shed fire on Monday, March 5. 2018.Damage at the home in Lumley Square, Hartlepool after a shed fire on Monday, March 5. 2018.
Damage at the home in Lumley Square, Hartlepool after a shed fire on Monday, March 5. 2018.

“I chucked a bucket of water over it and came back for another, but by the time I came back it was too late, the flames were right up to the ceiling of the shed.

“My wife phoned the fire brigade and we got out. It was a shock.”

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The shed was destroyed by the fire, while flames also spread to the back of the house, causing windows to break and the back door to partially melt.

A motorbike belonging to Mr and Mrs Price’s son Christopher, 45, was also badly damaged along with a number of tools including a new bench drill and fishing equipment.

Fire crews from the Headland and Hartlepool Community Fire Station rushed to the scene just before 9pm.

Mr Price added: “To give them their due they got it under control pretty quick.

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“One of the fire brigade men said it’s a good job you hadn’t gone to bed’.

“I said probably half the house would have went if we had.

“We are waiting for the fire brigade to come and see if they can find out where it started.”

Despite the upheaval, Mr Price remained upbeat about the situation.

“We have just got to get on with it,” he said.

“It’s no good being down in the dumps. Eventually it will all get put right.”