A WOMAN came home to discover fire had ravaged her house and killed her cat.

Sharon Heanes, 49, was at her daughter’s home on Friday evening when flames broke out in the kitchen of her house in Troak Close, Somerford.

It left the downstairs blackened and uninhabitable thanks to extensive smoke damage.

Neighbour Terena Tuvey raised the alarm and firefighters from Christchurch and Springbourne were sent to the scene at 8.50pm to fight the fire.

Surveying the damage yesterday, Sharon, who lives with children Chelsea, 16, and Danny, nine, told the Daily Echo: “My neighbour rang me to say my house was on fire.

“I’m relieved that I wasn’t here, but maybe if I was here I might have been able to deal with it sooner.

“I’m gutted. I’ve just started doing my house up and this happens.”

Sharon said the kitchen was only around a year old and all her appliances were off at the time of the blaze. She is now staying with her eldest daughter.

Terena said she smelt smoke and then spotted that bin bags at the back of the house were alight.

“I could smell it getting stronger and my sister-in-law who was here with me said it was Sharon’s. I jumped over the fence and I put the hose on it and tried to put it out,” she added.

Dorset Fire and Rescue Service said the fire was down to an electrical fault and was believed to have started in a tumble dryer.