A family escaped a house fire in Hempstead after being alerted by a smoke alarm in the early hours of this morning.
Firefighters were called to Cedar Grove at about 4.30am when a woman discovered her dishwasher had caught alight and fire had begun spreading through the kitchen.
She then woke her elderly mother and young son, and the family escaped after closing the kitchen door, which helped contain the fire before firefighters arrived.
Crews were then able to stop the blaze spreading further, although the whole house suffered smoke damage and the dishwasher, washing machine, worktops and flooring were also damaged by fire.
Medway Watch Manager, Mike Robins, said: “My advice would be don’t leave electrical appliances to run overnight or when you are not in the house and get into the habit of closing doors when you go to bed at night as this will stop a fire spreading.”
Two pumps from Medway attended and were on the scene for an hour.