A family was forced to flee their home on Boxing Day after an overloaded extension cable burst into flames ravaging one of the bedrooms.
Krystal Straw, 35, managed to evacuate her daughters to safety as the flames spread at their home in Walker, Newcastle, on Saturday - with the blaze having left them temporarily homeless.
15-year-old Abbie Taylor's belongings, including all of her Christmas presents, were destroyed after the fire erupted in her bedroom, with the rest of the house left severely smoke-damaged.
Krystal - who admits feeling "lucky to be alive" - recalled how she was "hysterical" after the fire broke out as she rushed Abbie, Ava, five, and Abbie's partner Rhys Davison outside, reports the ChronicleLive.
"I know we have lost what we have, but it's not our lives," she said.
The mum had been downstairs with her youngest, while Abbie and Rhys were upstairs in her room, just prior to the fire starting.
At around 9.30pm the mum went upstairs, where 15-year-old Rhys had been asleep, and asked the young couple to come down to the living room so they could all spend the evening together.
A little later Krystal noticed a burning smell.
And when she went to check Abbie's bedroom it was engulfed by flames.
"There were flames right up the windows, and when I opened the door it got worse," Krystal explained.
The terrified mum slammed the door and raced downstairs to get her family out the house.
"I was hysterical," she said. "I was just shouting; 'get out, get out'."
Since the fire, friends, neighbours and complete strangers, have rallied round the family offering clothes, toys, presents and cash to help replace what they've lost.
The family are now staying with Krystal's mum Janice Taylor while they wait to discover if they will be able to return to their home where they've lived for five years.
A fundraising page was set-up on the online giving site GoFundMe, and more than £1,400 has now been donated to help the family get back on their feet.
And as news of the blaze spread around Walker, the community has responded by giving them clothes, gifts and other essentials to help replace what they have lost.
"It's been really overwhelming," said Krystal. "People have brought clothes for the little ones, smellies and cash.
"I feel grateful to live in Walker. Something like this shows you have got that support around you. It brings out the best in the community."
And as she relives her ordeal, Krystal is also thankful that she chose to wake Rhys up when she did, and that Abbie and Ava were not in their rooms when the fire broke out.
She added: "Ava would normally be in bed at that time, but she was up late because it was Boxing Day. And if I hadn't asked Abbie and Rhys to come down they would have still been up there."
A spokesman for Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service said: "Our crews from Byker attended and there was also a fire engine from Wallsend. All the residents were safely out of the house. We used four breathing apparatus and four hose reels.
"The cause was an extension cable within one of the bedrooms that had been accidentally overloaded."
