Lucy Devine
A woman has shared a terrifying warning on Facebook after her house burnt down from a kitchen fire.
Kerry Charnley took to social media earlier this week to warn others about leaving appliances on when they're not at home.
Noting that many people are looking for cheaper ways to run their appliances, Kerry revealed that her family suffered a devastating house fire after she left the dishwasher on while out of the house.
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"With fuel prices rocketing, some people who have cheaper electricity tariffs at night might be tempted to run washing machines, dishwashers and tumble dryers during the night," Kerry explained.
"I really want to bring some awareness as to why you shouldn't. In 2012 we suffered a devastating house fire in which we lost everything because I stupidly put the dishwasher on and left the house."
Alongside the post, Kerry shared two images of her kitchen, which was devastated by the fire.
"I've included two pictures of our kitchen, one from the outside and one from the inside. The whole house was destroyed along with all our belongings," she continued.
"Nobody was hurt and as it was a beautiful May morning, we walked to school and took the dog, otherwise she would have been in the kitchen.
"Please don't be complacent and think that it will never happen to you. Kitchen appliances are responsible for 15k house fires a year. We started a campaign and a court case which led to a national recall."
Kerry went on to urge others to check appliances from a list of recalled items.
"There's a charity that provides information on recalled items... please check if your appliances are on this incredibly large database and contact the manufacturer if they are," she said.
"Even if you have had an appliance replaced previously because of a recall, some of the replacement appliances are now on the recall lists but consumers are not being contacted," Kerry continued.
You can view the petition and recalled items here.
Others were grateful to Kerry for highlighting the issue, with one person commenting: "Today for the 1st time before I left the house I turned the washing machine off, I don't know why but I thought of you and it made me think so thank you for this timely reminder."
While another said: "Thank you for letting us know the risks and allowing us to share to other people."