A COUPLE and their son were able to escape their smoke-filled bungalow thanks to working smoke alarms fitted by the fire service.

The occupants of the property in Stretche Road in Swanage called for help at 8.30pm on Tuesday night after a fire broke out in the study.

One of the homeowners, who asked not to be named, was speaking to a friend at the front door when the drama unfolded.

He told the Daily Echo: “I was at the door for about five or ten minutes when the guy said ‘what’s that noise? It sounds like a smoke alarm’.

“So he went, I turned around and popped my head into the room and was met by a wall of smoke. The fire took hold really quickly, there was choking smoke.

“If it wasn’t for the alarm I may have been at the door chatting for another five minutes and it would have been a lot worse.”

Firefighters from Swanage station arrived on scene within six minutes and used four sets of breathing apparatus, two hose reel jets and one main line to extinguish the blaze.

The fire was believed to have been caused by a fault in an electrical socket and caused considerable damage to the study and smoke damage to the rest of the bungalow.

The occupants, a couple and their visiting 40-year-old son, were treated at the scene by fire crews before paramedics arrived. They did not need to go to hospital.

Phil Burridge, incident commander and station commander at Swanage fire station, said: “The couple inside the property had a lucky escape. They had received a home safety check from Dorset Fire and Rescue Service.”