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Former smoker Linda James-Davies’ house was gutted by fire after she quit her 20-a-day habit and believes an e-cig charger was to blame.

The mum-of-two was convinced the device exploded while she ate beans on toast in her two-bedroom house.

“All of a sudden the fire alarm went off,” Linda said.

“I thought it had gone off accidentally but when I opened my bedroom door the room was alight. It was on fire.”

The device was plugged in while the 56-year-old had a bath before her snack.

“I could see the fire was around the charger, which was plugged into an extension lead,” she said.

“That was where the fire was from. The fire officer said it was down to the e-cigarette when they put the fire out.

“My upstairs is gutted.”

Linda started using the e-cig after packing in her 20-a-day habit.

She is adamant she would have died in her bed if she had been asleep.

“It’s lucky it did not happen in the night,” Linda said.

“Because if it happened in the night I might not have been here to tell the tale.”

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She urged firms to axe the gadgets.

“I’d like to tell companies making them to stop making them,” Linda said.

“E-cigarettes have ruined my life. They have wrecked 28 years of living in my home.

“Memories keep coming back of what living in that house was like.”

The grandmother-of-six said she was glad she was the only one in the property.

“It was just me in the house at the time,” Linda, who has osteoarthritis, said.

“My grandkids could have been there, thank God they were not because they come up to visit me.”

The blaze broke out on October 6 at 3.30pm.

On seeing what was going on she called firefighters.

“All I could see was the flames in front of me, even though I had gone downstairs,” Linda said.

Her next door neighbour spotted the flames. He knew she was still inside.

“Get out of the house” he said.

“I was just in shock,” said Linda.

“My next door neighbour said his alarms were going off as well because of the smoke.

“There was a lot of smoke. My windows were blown out.”

As she stood outside she saw the glass shatter in the heat.

Linda said she is still traumatised by the fire.

“I could be walking in the middle of the street and I will start smelling smoke and I think there is about to be another fire,” Linda said.

“It’s like having flashbacks.”

She is now scared of plugs.

“I’m so nervous now,” she said.

“I never used to be afraid of plugs, but I’m even afraid of them now.

“Plugging anything in or switching anything off, just using a socket leaves me frightened.”

Linda is now staying with family in Barry.

She has not been able to get back inside her house in Ely, Cardiff, since the fire.

“They have sealed it off so I cannot even go up there,” she said.

In her garden, her wrecked belongings are piled on the lawn.

“I’m waiting to see when I can get in and get my downstairs furniture, my tables and chairs, things like that,” she said.

Jewellery, documents, clothes and presents from her kids were lost in the fire.

“It was a family home,” Linda said.

“I know they have grown up, and my daughter has got a place of her own, but she still had a cry.”

Linda is now waiting to be rehoused.

“I have signed up for temporary accommodation but I can’t move in at the moment because I cannot get any of my stuff out.”

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service confirmed they attended the blaze at the semi-detached house.

Investigators were unable to conclude what was behind it.

The service attended two fires this year sparked by e-cigs or their chargers.

“If this was caused by an e-cigarette, it will be the one that has caused the most damage,” the spokesman said.