A mother of four from Jurby has spoken about the terrifying moment she discovered her house was on fire.

Michelle Taylor and three of her young children, who live at the commissioners’ estate, The Threshold, had to escape from her burning home when a electrical fault in a fridge freezer sparked the blaze which caused extensive damage.

The family have been staying in a caravan at a friend’s house in Jurby since the fire but as they had no household contents insurance they will have to pay to replace their belongings themselves.

They have been offered a new home in Ramsey by the Commissioners and hope to be able to move in over the next couple of days.

A fundraising page has been set up by the children’s auntie, Suzanne Lennox, which aims to raise £1,000 to help the family. The page has already raised £650 and there have also been offers to provide household items such as plates, mugs and bowls.

Michelle told the Examiner: ’It was scary. My little girl went downstairs and told me there was smoke coming from the kitchen. I went down and there were flames shooting up. I ran to get the kids and screamed for them to get outside, then ran out and called "999".’

The drama happened at around 11.30am on Friday and Michelle added: ’It was lucky it was in the morning and not during the night or there might have been a different outcome.’

Michelle said that she has been overwhelmed by the support the family have received and is now urging everyone who does not have it to get household contents insurance.

She said that her family had been on the waiting list to move to a house in Ramsey and the Commissioners and the government’s housing division have been working to find them accommodation there.

They have now been offered a three-bedroom house in Ramsey, which is undergoing final electrical checks, and hope to move in over the next couple of days.

Michelle said: ’It will be an empty shell but at least it’s a roof over our heads so that will be a massive relief. We are just looking to see what we can salvage from our old house.’

A statement from Isle of Man Fire Service station officer Tony Duncan said: ’At 11.28am on August 18 the Emergency Services Joint Control Room mobilised fire crews from Ramsey and Kirk Michael stations to attend a reported kitchen at The Threshold, Jurby.

’On attendance the officer-in-charge committed breathing apparatus teams to extinguish the fire which was threatening to spread throughout the property. A hose reel was used to extinguish the fire and a positive pressure fan was used to ventilate the remaining rooms.

’There was extensive fire damage to the kitchen and smoke damage to the rest of the property.

’The cause of the fire was an electrical fault on a fridge freezer.’

While fire crews were dealing with the Jurby blaze another kitchen fire was reported at the Grosvenor pub in Andreas. The cause of that fire was an overheated commercial deep fat fryer.

Due to crews being at The Threshold, remaining crews from Kirk Michael station, Ramsey station and Laxey station were mobilised.

It was found that a fire had broken out of the kitchen at the Grosvenor through a flat roof and was threatening to spread throughout the property.

Firefighters used extinguishers and high pressure hose reels to extinguish the fire.

Extensive fire damage was caused to the kitchen but, due to fire safety measures in place, smoke damage to the rest of the property was mitigated.

Douglas fire crews provided cover at Ramsey station until the crews could be returned to their respective stations.

You can donate to the fundraising campaign for Michelle Taylor’s family at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/suzanne-lennox