Garden furniture recently bought from Homebase caught fire in this week's extreme heat and started a blaze that spread to the nearby home. Kirsty Gawne, 27, from Stockbridge Village, was upstairs on Tuesday when she smelt what she thought was a barbeque. She came downstairs and saw flames coming from her window and a huge plume of smoke from where her new rattan garden sofa set was.
Kirsty told The ECHO: "The dog was around my feet and wouldn't move which was really weird. I looked around and the living room was full of smoke and I could see flames through the window. I was panicking because I didn't know where my phone was, my head fell off. I shouted my son and got the dog out and was screaming 'help help help' in the street.
"My neighbour but one said they had already seen the fire and called 999. I was so scared."
The back of Kirsty's house and a fence were completely alight and firefighters worked for an hour at the scene. Kirsty only bought the rattan three-seater couch from Homebase three months before the fire, and said she spent around £400 on it.
She said: "Firefighters told me they think the furniture couldn't deal with the crazy heat and burst into flames. They said something about seeing a few incidents like this.
"The back windows have blown, the whole back of my couch in the living room is gone, my curtains are ruined and the ceiling is black. Knowsley Council have moved me out of my home and are unsure if I will be able to go back.
"I'd only been here for a few months, but I was settled and it was my home."
The aftermath of the rattan fire in Stockbridge Village (Image: Kirsty Gawne)
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service said: "On arrival crews found garden furniture involved in fire. The fire had also spread to nearby fencing. The fire had been extinguished by 12.09pm and fire crews remained on scene until 1.18pm.
"It is believed the fire started accidentally."
Kirsty said: "A lot of people buy the rattan because it looks lovely, but if it can't stand the heat then it's not worth it. It's also really expensive, I don't think it's worth the price if it sets your house on fire.
"I complained to Homebase but they asked me if I wanted a new one and I said absolutely not. They then told me to leave a product review. A product recall should be done."
A Homebase spokesperson said: "We’re really sorry to hear about the damage caused to Ms Gawne’s home. We take product safety extremely seriously, and we’re looking into what happened."
