A MOTHER has warned families to take proper fire precautions after her family's lucky escape from a blaze.

Angela and John Walton and their three sons had to flee their bungalow when it caught fire.

But Mrs Walton said that if the family had not taken adequate fire precautions, the fire could have had more serious consequences.

It is thought it started when sun shining through the window caused a lighter in her 14-year-old son's attic room to explode.

There was no one in the room at the time and the family, who were all downstairs, were alerted by fire alarms.

Mrs Walton said she has been very safety- conscious since a fire when she was 18.

The house, in Low Etherley, near Bishop Auckland, County Durham, had mains-connected fire alarms, as well as fire extinguishers and fire blankets.

The family also regularly practised fire evacuation procedures.

She said: "My son is in the Army cadets and had been building a survival kit, which included a lighter. Like any 14-year-old's room, there were also deodorant cans and aftershave which were flammable.

"I took one look at the fire, it was like a fireball. I knew there was nothing I could do apart from phone the fire brigade."

Thanks to their practice, the family knew to evacuate to the garden.

Fire officers later told Mrs Walton that had anybody been in the room, they would have been seriously injured.

Mrs Walton added: "The fact that we have all this equipment saved our lives. Even when we go on holiday, we take a smoke alarm and practice getting to the fire exit."