A quick-thinking mum believes her teenage sons and pet spiders could have been killed after their smoke alarm failed to warn them of a washing machine fire.

Maria Rogers, 37, was watching television in the first-floor bedroom of her Canterbury home on Tuesday evening when the blaze started in her kitchen.

It was not until her screen, as well as those in both of her sons’ rooms, suddenly turned off that they noticed something untoward was happening.

“My sons came downstairs and as they were coming down they said they could smell smoke,” said Ms Rogers.

“I ran downstairs and one of my boys had already wet a towel and I took it off him and said, ‘get out of the house’.

“I was on the phone to the fire brigade as well as trying to put it out because it was only a little one. I was trying to cover it and get it to go out - but the towel caught fire.

"I knew I had to get out because I wouldn’t be able to stop it; it spread so fast.”

Ms Rogers says her sons – aged 13 and 16 – had started a cycle in the Bosch washing machine prior to the blaze.

Two fire engines arrived at the scene in Pine Tree Avenue at about 7.45pm. They battled the flames for about half an hour before extinguishing the blaze.

At that point, Ms Rogers asked the fire fighters to rescue her pet tarantulas and jumping spiders – named Charlotte, Fang, Willow and Blue – from the home.

“As soon as they put it out, I said, ‘please can you get my spiders out’,” she added.

“My jumping spiders are about the size of a fingernail so if they breathed in the smoke they would have died, I’m sure.

“I was very scared for them. I love them.”

There were no injuries to any of the occupants or the spiders.

Following the incident, firefighters are reminding people not to leave washing machines in standby mode for long periods of time, and not to leave them running overnight or when nobody is at home – in case an electrical fault occurs.

“I had a smoke alarm, but it didn’t go off until the fire brigade got to us,” Ms Rogers added. “If we had been asleep, we wouldn’t have noticed; we could have died.

“The firemen said that keeping the kitchen door shut saved my whole house from being turned to ash.

"My jumping spiders are about the size of a fingernail so if they breathed in the smoke they would have died, I’m sure" Maria Rogers

“None of us slept last night; we just can’t stop thinking about it. It was the scariest thing I’ve been through in my life.”

A Bosch spokesperson said: “We are committed to manufacturing and sourcing appliances to the highest quality and as part of our production process, our appliances are rigorously tested before they are made available to market.

"As a responsible manufacturer we are keen to inspect this product which, from initial information, we believe to be between 15-20 years old. We will be attempting to make contact with the customer as soon as possible.”

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