A courageous mother-of-three, Hannah Foster, 36, narrowly escaped disaster when a tumble dryer in her Derbyshire home burst into flames, putting her family in grave danger. The blaze erupted shortly after midnight on Friday, March 27th, forcing Hannah to act quickly to save her loved ones.
Hannah believes the fire may have been triggered by a child’s toy that fell behind the appliance, causing it to overheat. She had been drying clothes for around 20 minutes before smoke and flames suddenly appeared in the conservatory where the dryer was located.
“We were getting ready for a camping trip, and I was sorting the last of the clothes,” Hannah recounted. “My son Kieran came running into my room saying he saw smoke coming through the floorboards. When I rushed downstairs, I was met with a wall of flames and thick smoke.”
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Despite the terrifying conditions, Hannah fought through the choking smoke to wake her partner Tom, 36, who was asleep on the sofa. Unable to rouse him at first, she kept shaking him until he woke just in time. They quickly gathered their two sons, Jack, 17, Kieran, 12, and their two-year-old daughter Maddison, and evacuated the house to safety.
“Tom had singed hair but thankfully no one was injured,” Hannah said. “The entire downstairs was engulfed in flames. We truly are lucky to be alive.”
Firefighters from Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service arrived promptly to battle the blaze, which damaged the conservatory, kitchen, and the ground floor. Using breathing apparatus and multiple jets, the crew took over an hour to fully extinguish the fire.
Hannah, a Special Educational Needs teaching assistant, is now living with family while searching for a new home with Tom, who works in construction. She revealed that the Indesit tumble dryer, a hand-me-down appliance she had used safely for years, may have malfunctioned due to lint buildup or a misplaced toy.
Derbyshire Fire and Rescue confirmed the appliance as the source of the accidental fire and urged all residents to be vigilant when using tumble dryers.
In the aftermath, Hannah has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help replace the family’s lost belongings and rebuild their life after this frightening ordeal.