A devastated woman’s home was destroyed when her vacuum cleaner was set on fire after she left it plugged in for 18 hours.
Tanya Bennett has been left homeless since the blaze.
The 36-year-old said she was told by firefighters the vac set alight while she was at work.
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Luckily, a neighbour raised the alarm.
French Bulldogs, Lewi and Monkey, and Cockapoo, Luna, were trapped upstairs, but firefighters managed to rescue them from the burning building.
Every room in the house other than the kitchen, suffered fire damage on Monday (9 Jun).
“I’m absolutely devastated, helpless and in shock,” Tanya, from Telford, Shropshire, told Need To Know.
“I couldn’t believe it when the firefighters said it was caused by the vacuum cleaner.
“I’m now homeless and my dogs have had to go to my friend’s house as I can’t keep them in my temporary accommodation.
“I’d left the vacuum cleaner plugged into the wall after cleaning the night before.
“I was at work and the neighbour called to say my house was on fire and she’d called the fire brigade.
“When I got home, the firefighters had only recovered one dog as he was in the kitchen which was the only room that wasn’t damaged because the door was shut.
“The other two dogs were trapped upstairs by the smoke.
“It was heartbreaking. I was screaming and crying and they brought the dogs out one by one.
“They were black.”
The vacuum cleaner had been plugged in for 18 hours when it set on fire.
The marketing manager estimates it will cost her thousands to replace all of her furniture and redecorate.
Tanya said: “The whole house is smoke-damaged.
“It’s thick and black .
“All the furniture is covered in soot, the TV cabinet is melted and all of my drawers of clothes are covered in soot.
“Basically, every single item in my house is covered by smoke.
“There’s not one single item that is not.
“I need to replace everything and it will cost thousands.
“The whole house needs specialist cleaning and I can’t go in without PPE.”
With the house completely uninhabitable, Tanya is living in temporary accommodation and doesn’t know when she’ll be able to go home.
Tanya added: “I didn’t think that a vacuum cleaner could even catch fire.
“How much damage it’s caused is crazy.
“Apparently, the dust particles inside are very combustible.
“Just turn everything off at the wall or unplug appliances.
“Even though the electrics tripped and cut off it didn’t matter as the fire still continued once it had sparked.”
Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service has been approached for comment.
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