Man escapes house fire

Ken Howart suffered smoke inhalation during the blaze, which firefighters attended at around 9.35am.

Heavily fire-damaged debris now litters the outside of the property.

Ken’s son Stephen said that his father was lucky to be alive.

“We feel very lucky that he wasn’t hurt more seriously,” he said. “It could have been a lot worse.”

“One room has been really badly damaged and the rest is just smoke damaged. Either way we’ve been told that the house is uninhabitable at the moment.”

Stephen added: “Dad’s alright - he’s been in hospital but discharged already.”

Neighbour Rob Tyson said: “I’ve lived here for 25 years and this really brings it all home - anything can happen.”

“You can’t take anything for granted.”

He continued: “We’re happy that the fire crews got here so quickly and that things weren’t any worse than they are, and we’re lucky that it didn’t spread.”

Four crews from Staveley, Clowne, Bolsover and Shirebrook tackled the fire using breathing apparatus and hose reel jets.

Everyone was accounted for from inside the property, where the fire had taken hold of the first floor.

A fire victim support unit from South Yorkshire and a fire investigation unit.

Investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire, and are expected to remain at the property for most of the day.