A mum has issued a warning to others after her family was engulfed in flames allegedly due to a cheap iPhone charger aallegedly catching fire.
Emma Flaherty, 55, began to smell smoke and found her daughter, Chloe's, bed on fire. She rushed both the 15-year-old and sister Lola, 12, out of the house.
Fire crews spent an hour trying to tackle the blaze, which had firmly taken hold of the three-bedroom property, reports the Mirror.
Emma believes the fire was allegedly caused by an unbranded iPhone charger overheating and bursting into flames which engulfed the room in minutes.
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She is now warning others about the dangers of "cheap" and unofficial mobile phone chargers.
She said: "It was an iPhone charger I either bought off Amazon or from a newsagent so it wasn't an official one. Chloe had put her iPhone 13 into charge while she had a nap."
Minutes later it just caught fire and she woke up in her room full of smoke and flames.
"I shouted to Chloe to get out the house while I grabbed Lola and carried her outside," said Emma.
"We called 999 and my neighbours tried to put the flames out with a hose but the fire was just too big.
"It's still so surreal in my head. I just had to get my kids out, one who was in the fire asleep and the other who is disabled. My head is all over the place at the moment.
"A place we built up as our safe place, memories made, laughter shared - completely destroyed within minutes due to a charger lead. Most of the upstairs of the house is ruined by fire or smoke damage and everything else just melted in the fire. It's devastating.
"I will never in my life allow unbranded chargers into my home. We are so very lucky. Please keep doors closed, turn sockets off when not in use, and check your fire alarms. Doesn't stop fires by all means but it confines it to a minimum and saves lives."
Unfortunately, Emma did not have contents insurance so will not receive compensation for her lost belongings.
A GoFundMe appeal which was launched to help the family get back on their feet has raised over £1,000 while a delivery company has volunteered to store any donations for them.
Emma added said: "I am forever grateful for everyone's generosity, the community of Worcester have been unbelievable."Everything life has thrown at us all. we realise no matter how much we do things alone, we aren't alone."
