Pet cat burned down owner's home in fire after turning on oven hob while suffering a fit

Pet owner suspects cat may have started fire during epileptic fit

Mother and son have a lucky escape as they are rescued from the first floor of their home



Kitchen of house completed gutted, house fitted with fire alarms but batteries had run out



The owner of a pet cat was left dismayed yesterday after the feline caused thousands of pound worth of damage setting fire to his owner's house.

Jacky McCusker, 52 and her son Tom, 32, telephoned the emergency services after they were woken by smoke billowing into the bedrooms of their house in Telford, Shropshire.



The pair had to be rescued by fire fighters from the top floor of the house and were transferred by ambulance to the nearby Princess Royal Hospital and treated for smoke inhalation.

Completely gutted: Mrs McCusker and her son Tom had a lucky escape from the blaze at their home, according to the fire service

Crazy cat: Mrs McCusker said she believed her pet cat Bubba may have had an epileptic fit while asleep on top of the family cooker

Mrs McCusker said she believed the family's pet cat Bubba may have managed to turn on an electric hob after suffering an epileptic fit while he slept near the stove.

The hob set fire to a wooden board and the resulting fire spread throughout the kitchen and hallway.



Yesterday Mrs McCusker described how the 12-year-old cat calmly sat on a fence across the street as the blaze took hold of the house.



She said: ‘When we were huddled by the window waiting for the fire crew to rescue us, I spotted Bubba sitting across the road on the fence.



‘You cannot print what I said at that moment.



‘Epilepsy is a lot more common in cats than you would think. In the past when he has been asleep and kicked out he has pushed sauce bottles off or the odd plate.



I never thought anything like this could happen, but the electric oven knob only needs pushing over slightly to be turn on.

‘My bedroom door was open so I was exposed to the smoke as it filled the staircase.



Wrecked: The Kitchen blaze had gotten so bad that Mrs McCusker and her son Tom only had a few more minutes to escape

‘The flames had reached the kitchen wall leading to the hallway, just another few minutes and the flames would have been up the stairs.’



Three fire engines carrying 15 fire fighters were called to the blaze and took just eight minutes to rescue the family from their smoke-filled terraced home.



The kitchen was completely gutted by the blaze, causing thousands of pounds of damage.



Prized-possessions like photographs were also left covered in smoke and ash in the hallway.



Mrs McCusker said she only woke because the smoke stung her eyes. It also emerged the family had a lucky escape because the batteries had run out in their smoke alarms. The kitchen assistant's husband Thomas, 60, was in London the day of the fire.

'I forgot to check the smoke alarms, this is definitely a lesson learnt. You think it will never happen to you but it happened to us,' she added.

'I was scared but I was trying to keep calm for my son. I know he is 32 but you always think of your kids first whatever age they are.

'It wasn't until we got to the hospital that the enormity of what could have happened hit me.'



Fire chiefs have not confirmed the cause of the blaze but said they are not treating it as suspicious.

Incident Commander Craig Jackson said: 'They've had a very lucky escape and luckily their injuries are not life threatening.

'The house had smoke alarms but they had no batteries in them.



'We will be visiting this residential area again in the next few days to remind people about the importance of working fire alarms, and regular testing.

