A legal battle for £100,000 compensation has been launched on behalf of a Northampton family after their dog was killed and their house gutted by fire.
A High Court writ has been issued in Larry Patch’s name against Indesit Co UK and DSG Retail. The writ alleges that a Hotpoint/Indesit tumble dryer sparked a fire in his family home in Sansom Court, The Arbours, Northampton on February 27 2009.
The fire is estimated to have caused £73,022.75 of damage, as well as “emotional distress and inconvenience,” as his family were forced to move out of their home of 10 years.
Larry Patch, aged 51, a driver for Asda, described the traumatic event: “I came back from taking our dog for a walk and put the dryer on and then went out. About 20 minutes later, I got a call from the lady across the road saying there was a fire in my house. My wife works nights for Sainsbury’s so she was still asleep in bed.
“When I got back the fire brigade were there and my wife was being dragged across the road. She was suffering from smoke inhalation and they had to administer treatment in my neighbour’s living room. She had heard the smoke alarm when she was sleeping but she thought it was an alarm clock until she woke up choking. She was really lucky she got out of the house when she did.”
Jo Patch, aged 43, did not sustain serious injuries but suffered chest pains for a week after the fire but the family’s English Springer Spaniel Ellie, aged just three, was killed.
Mr Patch said: “The fire brigade got the dog outside and tried to resuscitate her but she had probably died a while before they got to her.
“It gutted our kitchen, the boiler – we lost everything downstairs and there was smoke damage upstairs – but the biggest upset was definitely losing our dog, everything else can be replaced.”
The family were then forced to move out of their home and were not able to return until the following August.
Mr Patch said: “We were in a hotel for a month and all in the same room for two weeks, and then in a flat in the Kettering Road.
“We had no clothes – only the ones we were standing in at the time. We weren’t settled until the December.”