A family have been left homeless by a house fire in Witham.
Mother-of-four Lisa Pepper was washing her young daughter's hair in the kitchen sink of their Cressing Road home on Saturday.
It was whilst doing this that she smelt smoke coming from the cupboard containing the gas meter.
Miss Pepper, 34, said: "I opened the cupboard door and there was the fire.
"I shut the door and by the time I was in the front room it went bang.
"I'm still in shock at the moment."
Miss Pepper managed to get her children Charlotte, nine, Cally, seven, and Billie Jo, three and staffordshire bull terrier Bullseye out of the house before the fire brigade arrived.
Her other child 17-year-old Ryan was out of the house at the time.
Two fire crews from Witham and one from Chelmsford tackled the blaze using a hose reel and breathing apparatus.
Gas engineers were called to inspect the gas meter cupboard where the fire began, and an investigation is ongoing.
Published Monday, January 6, 2003
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