Family next door avoid house fire in Neville Road, Sprowston

Crews from across the Norwich area tackled the house fire in Neville Road, Sprowston, near the recreation ground, at 10.40pm yesterday.

No one was injured in the blaze but Mark Elliot's family had headed upstairs to bed in the neighbouring home of the semi-detached property.

Emergency services at the scene of the fire in Neville Road, Sprowston, last night (Image: Mark Elliot)
Mark lives with his wife Sally-Ann and two children, a nine-year-old son and six-year-old daughter.

READ MORE: 'Of course it isn't!' - Homeless woman blasts MP's tent 'lifestyle' jibes

The 42-year-old said his family was lucky to escape after hearing the crackle of flames next door.

"I heard this crack from our neighbour's adjoining bedroom," he said.

The aftermath of the fire (Image: Newsquest)
"I thought it was a firework or something at first so I didn't think too much of it.

"But then I began to hear continuous crackling - like kindling - and that's when my wife started to smell smoke.

"We went into the bathroom and it was filling up with smoke.

"Within two or three minutes fire was going all through next door's house, coming out of the back and side windows - so we were very worried and needed to get out."

The fire started at around 10.40pm (Image: Mark Elliot)
Mr Elliot rushed his family out of the house while he called the emergency services.

Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service is "currently investigating the cause" of the fire, with a spokesman saying: "The fire had spread to both floors of the house and the roof.

READ MORE: Thieves steal £28K worth of equipment from football club

"No one was inside the building.

The fire spread to both floors of the house and roof (Image: Mark Elliot)
"Crews remained on scene until 2.15am today and went back to the house again later in the morning."

The property had scaffolding out the front before the fire and Me Elliot is not sure if someone had been living there recently.

He added: "Had I not heard the crackle of the fire starting who knows what could have happened.

"It could have been devastating.

"We're quite lucky that only our bathroom smells of smoke and that no damage was done."

Services returned to the property in the morning (Image: Newsquest)
Fire crews had to bring an aerial ladder to help deal with the blaze (Image: Mark Elliot)
Crews stayed at the scene until 2.15am this morning to tackle the fire (Image: Mark Elliot)