Couple’s home destroyed in Sedlescombe fire

Pete March, 50, was woken by his fire alarm at about 12am on Wednesday (December 30) and noticed flames coming from an oven he had installed two weeks previous.

After attempting to put out the fire with a tea towel, Pete said he realised the flames were too large and decided it was safest to escape.

He woke his wife Sharon, 49, and together they left their ground floor flat in East View Terrace with her their two guinea pigs.

Pete, who along with Sharon suffers with the lung disease COPD, required hospital treatment after breathing in a large amount of smoke. He has since been released and has recovered from the effects of smoke inhalation.

On Monday (January 4), he said his and Sharon’s flat had been ‘totally destroyed’ by the fire, which he said started in an oven he installed on December 18.

He believes the fire was caused by a power surge following an outage in the area the day before.

Pete said: “We’re happy to say we’re still alive. I was woken by my squealing guinea pigs and saw huge flames licking the walls. I tried to put it out but I realised I wasn’t going to be able to stop it.

“I woke my wife up and we both got out as quickly as we could. I also notified all of our neighbours of the fire and everyone managed to get out.

“The fire service arrived soon after but we have lost everything.”

Pete said the couple did not have contents insurance and all their items – except the ‘clothes on our backs’ – were lost to the flames.

Their housing association Orbit has placed them in temporary accommodation at the Travelodge, in Bohemia Road, Hastings, while the fire service examines the extent of the damage in their flat.

A spokesman for East Sussex Fire said: “At 00:25 on 30 December 2020, three fire engines were called to East View Terrace, Sedlescombe. There was a fire in a ground floor flat. Four breathing apparatus and two hose reel jets were used.”

Police said they were made aware of the fire but were not requested to attend and officers are not investigating the cause, a spokesman confirmed.