ONE of the residents who escaped the County Road fire has spoken of his relief that nobody was harmed in the blaze.

Residents from three homes had to be evacuated in the early hours of this morning while firefighters checked whether the fire had spread but were allowed to return some time later.

After spotting smoke pouring from the roof of the County Road property, Pedro Carvalho quickly rushed his wife, brother and three children aged 8, 6 and 1 and half years outside before firefighters arrived.

Although the no-one was hurt in the incident the family have been left shaken and are now counting the cost of the damage.

“I was taking the bins out when I turned around and saw smoke coming from the roof,” said Pedro, who works at Iceland.

“I rushed inside to tell everyone and had to wake the children up and get them outside. We just had to wait until the fire brigade arrive as it got worse.

“We are all tired but grateful everyone is okay.”

The fire service has told the family it is not safe for them to remain in the house because of the smoke fumes and the water used to extinguish the fire.

The upstairs room was used for storage with about £1,500 worth of damage done to equipment, such as a computer and sound amps.

Pedro said: “My wife is now talking to the insurance company to find out what to do next.

“At the moment I do not know how long it will take to sort out or what the overall extent of the damage is.

“The top room is totally gone so it will need lots of work.”