When Said Boumara left for work on September 11, the last thing he expected was a phone call from his neighbour to say his house was on fire.

By the time he had rushed back to his home on Redleaf Close, 999 had been called and crews from Kent Fire and Rescue Service were tackling the blaze.

Said said: “I couldn’t believe it was my house because I’d just left. I was in denial that it was happening until I saw the crews trying to put it out.”

Three fire engines were sent to the incident, which proved challenging due to the metal cladding on the side of the house and the steep hill it was built on.  

Iain, Station Leader at Tunbridge Wells, said: “We got the initial call at 11.30am and as we pulled up to the home you could see a lot of smoke and that it was a well-developed and severe fire.

“When you looked at the property, past both floors and up to the roof you could see smoke pulsing out of it and we knew that if we didn’t do something fast, the whole house was going to go.

“We identified that the source of the fire was in the kitchen, so we got a jet in through the window and started fighting it.

“The crews worked incredibly hard, and incredibly quickly. We used very aggressive firefighting tactics.”

Crews wearing breathing apparatus were sent into the house to fight the fire from inside.

Meanwhile, Said alerted the firefighters that his cats were still inside. They found three cats, who were then given pet oxygen before being passed onto the vets. Two of them have since made a full recovery but one sadly died.

Said continued: “I just wanted my cats found and the crews were talking to me the whole time and telling me what they were doing, reassuring me.

“I didn’t realise they had oxygen for pets, and I am so grateful to the firefighters, and the vets, for doing what they could to save them.”

At 1.38pm, firefighting operations had finished and investigations into the cause began. It’s believed the fire was accidental and started by a faulty hot water dispenser, that was plugged in, on the kitchen counter.

The kitchen was destroyed by the fire and the smoke damage impacted the whole house.

Iain added: “The majority of the fire was contained to the kitchen, but there is a lot of smoke damage in the house. The smoke was so hot that it melted the smoke alarms in the hallway.

“But the rooms with the least damage are the ones where the doors were closed.

“If you’re going out for the day and your electrical item doesn't need to be on, then turn it off. It's not worth the risk.”

Said added: “As much as you listen to the advice, you never think it’s going to happen to you.

“Now when I leave the house, I make sure everything’s switched off at the plug, I make sure the doors are closed, and I test my smoke alarms every week.

“I can’t thank the crews enough for all they did.”