A FAMILY whose home has been destroyed by a blaze say they are thankful nobody was seriously hurt in the fire.

Gary Gregory was at his flat on Osborne Street, Colchester, with stepdaughter Jade Anderson when a ceramic heater in the bedroom caught fire.

Jade was cooking dinner when the fire broke out just before 7pm on Wednesday.

She said: “I was in the kitchen and the smoke alarm went off.

“It is very sensitive, which is obviously great, so to start with I was fanning the alarm with a dishcloth, but when I looked I saw this big black ball of smoke come out of the bottom of the door.

“I called out to Gary and he tried to extinguish it but the flames were just too big.

“We had to go outside and watch it go from room to room destroying everything.

“The hardest thing was there was nothing we could do.”

Jade’s mother Maria Fontaine, 47, was at work when she was informed about the blaze and jumped out of the car on nearby Southway.

She said: “I ran as fast as I could because I was so worried Gary and Jade were still in there.

“It looks like we have lost everything but it really brings it home when a firefighter tells you if it had happened while we were sleeping, it is unlikely we would have made it out of the bedroom.

“Human life is invaluable and I still have my family and material things do no really mean anything.”

She added: “The fire service, the police and ambulance service - everybody was so, so good.

“One of the fireman especially was amazing, he kept coming in and collecting things, coming out and getting directions to pick up other items which were especially valuable.

“He really went above and beyond the call of duty.”

Friends of Jade have set up a Go Fund Me page to help the family get back on their feet which has already attracted more than £1,000.

Maria said: “For people who know us, and people who don’t to put their hands in their pockets and give us a little bit of money, especially at this time of year, is amazing.

“I can’t put into words how their generosity has made me feel.”

Gary and Maria will be staying with Jade, and sister Skye, who was out walking a family dog when the fire started.

To donate visit gofundme.com/jadeshomefund

Smoke from the fire spread to Serenity Brides wedding shop below the flat, and damaged some stock.

But luckily fire crews were able to salvage dresses already bought by brides.

Sales manager Lyndsey Green said: “We told them which dresses we needed to get out and they were able to do it for us, luckily they were fine.”