A mother whose house caught fire on Wednesday morning has said she is “devastated” by the impact on her property, but also “grateful” that a smoke alarm saved her family. 

Quantity surveyor Patricia Power was awoken at five in the morning when an alarm went off in her home. 

Her smoke alarms occasionally go off for no reason and she assumed nothing was wrong. 

However, that changed after she went down stairs and caught sight of her extension. 

“I opened the kitchen door and the amount of smoke and I could see the fire in the extension,” she recalled on Lunchtime Live. 

“My husband was up after me, the kids were woke, I was panicking, it was scream time.” 

The couple rang the fire brigade and six fire engines arrived with 50 firefighters, ready to do battle with the flames. 

“In fairness, it took 20 minutes for the fire engines to get there,” she added. 

“They were absolutely amazing; we had six of them. 

“These people are so brave and so fast and articulate.” 

Overall, Ms Power admitted she feels both “devastated” and “brokenhearted” about the fate of her extension - but also very lucky. 

“The smoke damage is incredible,” she said. 

“Then you look out the window and you just see the burnt extension. 

“But at the same time, I'm trying to be positive and I am so grateful to that little white box [smoke alarm] that saved my family, is all I can say.”

Main image: Patricia Power.