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Family escape devastating blaze after Dad thought noise of fire was son having midnight snack

The Hardy's house was destroyed in the fire (Reach)
The Hardy's house was destroyed in the fire (Reach)

A family grieving for their young daughter have told how they are lucky to be alive after escaping a fire in their family home.

Adam Hardy, his pregnant wife, and their two children were sleeping in their bungalow in South Cave, Humberside, when the blaze broke out on Monday night.

Adam was stirred by a noise that he thought was his son sneaking into the kitchen for a midnight snack, but it turned out to be fire ripping through the house, and the family made their lucky escape.

The Hardys, whose daughter Chloe died suddenly last year, are now temporarily homeless.

Just last year the family paid an emotional tribute to their "lovely, gentle and special" four-year-old daughter Chloe.

The pre-schooler was a twin, and also leaves behind twin sister Charlotte, and older brother William.

The Hardy's house was destroyed in the fire (Reach)
The Hardy family are now homeless after their home was destroyed by fire (Reach)

Reflecting on the fire, Hardy said that though distraught, it is more the emotion of "what could have happened" that has affected the family.

"The more I think about it, the scarier it becomes because it was just blind luck that we got out," he said.

"We could have not been here. It was pure fluke that I happened to be awake.

"If it started an hour later, we wouldn't be here."

The 44-year-old cycling coach said that he heard a "small noise" and thinking eight-year-old William had sneaked into the kitchen for a late-night snack, he decided to get up and see what the noise was.

"It was a very small noise,” he said.

"I walked towards the kitchen, the whole side of the kitchen was bright orange flames, as high as you could see.

"The noise I heard was one of the wooden beams in the loft dropping into the lounge."

Hardy called 999 and got his family out of the burning building.

"I couldn’t get out the front door because it was straight onto where the flames were so we opened the back door and, as soon as I opened [it] the back door engulfed in flames. If you’d been there for two minutes, you’d have been dead. You just couldn’t breath."

The Hardy's house was destroyed in the fire (Reach)
The blaze is believed to have started in the loft of the family's bungalow (Reach)

Hardy’s wife, who is 22 weeks pregnant, took their children to safety in a neighbours house while he returned to the building.

Despite having four smoke alarms in the house, there was not one in the loft where it is believed the fire started.

Hardy has thanked his local community for their support.

"Everyone in the village knows we are the family who lost a daughter, now we will be known again as the family whose house burnt down," he said.

"After what happened last year, I can see it as this is just bricks and mortar. It's more the emotion of what could have happened. I'm not bothered about the house. It is just a house.

"If it comes to it and we have got to live in a shoe box well we will live in a shoe box."

The family managed to save some sentimental items and memories of Chloe, but some of her possessions were destroyed in the fire..

“I have been able to get in and get photographs... One of the things that is upsetting is we have some of Chloe's things and they have gone.

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"The one thing they tell you not to do is go back into a fire. After I checked my wife was OK, I went back in to get some essential memories of Chloe."

A fundraising page for the family has been set up and Hardy says the support they have received from others has been overwhelming.

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