Hero schoolboy, 11, saves baby sister, 1, in horror house fire after tumble dryer burst into flames

Hero schoolboy, 11, saves baby sister, 1, in horror house fire after tumble dryer burst into flames The Spruce family are fundraising for financial support after the horrific blaze, which is believed believed to have been the result of an electric fault with the family's four-year-old tumble dryer An 11-year-old boy carried his baby sister to safety after a tumble dryer burst into flames during his younger sister’s birthday celebrations. Harrison Spruce ran upstairs to get one-year-old Isabelle, after mum Samantha spotted smoke pouring from the utility room of their family home in Penkridge, Staffordshire. The family had been celebrating nine-year-old Pippa’s birthday when the blaze broke out on September 1, forcing Samantha and her four children to flee as flames tore through the property. Dad Reece Spruce, 35, said the family have now “lost pretty much everything”, with damage estimated at around £200,000. The self-employed carpenter said: “Thankfully, Sam and all four children got out safely. We’re incredibly proud of Harrison. He did what his mum asked, but it took a lot of courage for an 11-year-old to go upstairs during a house fire and bring his baby sister out.” Samantha, 35, had told Harrison to get Isabelle while she helped the other children, including five-year-old Joey, out of the house. The blaze is believed to have started with an electrical fault involving the family’s Candy tumble dryer, bought from Argos for £280 around four years ago. The kitchen and utility room were badly damaged, while smoke and soot spread throughout the four-bedroom property. The home is now uninhabitable and the family of six are staying with relatives, sharing one room while they wait for their insurance claim to progress and try to find temporary accommodation. Reece said: “The family are OK, but my missus has cried a lot about it and I’m trying my hardest to just keep going. I’ve been working very hard as I’m self-employed and it’s the only income we’ve got coming in, so I’ve tried to stay normal, but it’s really hard and we still can’t believe what has happened. “The utility room and the kitchen have gone as they are all burnt out and while it was contained towards the back of the house, the whole house is full of soot and all the beds and the kids’ toys smell of smoke. We’ve lost pretty much everything.” He believes the total cost of repairing the property and replacing damaged belongings could be a hefty cost. Reece said: “The fire damage itself was mainly in the kitchen and utility room, but the smoke damage has affected the entire house. If you add together the building work and the contents of the house, I think the damage could be around £200,000. “We believe the tumble dryer was the source because the washing machine is still largely intact, whereas the tumble dryer has completely disintegrated. We think perhaps a safety cut-off failed or something caused it to overheat but it wasn’t that old really.” Reece said the family hopes what happened will encourage others to check electrical appliances and make sure their smoke alarms are working. He added: “You never imagine something like this happening to your family. One minute the children were colouring on Pippa’s birthday and the next they were getting out of a burning house. “We want people to check their appliances and make sure their smoke alarms are working. If our experience makes another family think about fire safety, then something positive has come from it.” The family has contents insurance, but Reece fears their cover may fall short of the true cost of replacing everything damaged in the fire. He added: “You don’t think about the combined value of every bed, mattress, television, computer, games console, appliance, item of clothing, children’s toy and everything else you’ve accumulated over the years. “A contents figure can sound like a huge amount of money until you’re suddenly faced with potentially replacing the contents of an entire family home." "We’d urge people to actually go around their house and work out what everything would cost to replace. We thought we had enough cover, and we’ve now realised how easy it is to underestimate it.” A GoFundMe page set up by Samantha’s sister has already raised more than £3,000 as the family tries to find somewhere suitable to live. Reece added: “When my sister-in-law suggested it, I wasn’t sure as we’ve always been a family who want to get on with our lives and don’t look for handouts and try to do things ourselves, so I was a little bit reluctant. “However, my wife was saying how we need beds and other stuff, including clothing for the children as they’re going back to school, so we decided to go with it. We’re incredibly overwhelmed by what people have donated so far and by how many people have offered to help us.”