ON Saturday, February 13, I had a telephone call from a friend.

He said he had just driven past my Mum and Dad’s bungalow and there were two fire engines there.

I tried telephoning, but there was no reply. I ‘phoned my brother and we all drove out.

That drive was the longest 20 minutes of my life!

What was going on, was there a fire, was it first responders? My mind and heart was racing.

When we got there the fire engines were gone. My Mum was in shock and Dad was busying himself with the kettle.

The Carbon Monoxide alarm had gone off.

Thankfully Mum called 999 and got outside as the bungalow was full of the stuff.

The fire brigade went in with breathing apparatus on and sorted it out. The aga was to blame.

Mum has it swept regularly, however the strings inside were the problem.

I thank God that Mum knew what to do as Dad was just going to switch the alarm on and off to shut it up. If Dad had done that they would be dead.

We all have smoke alarms but please everyone get a carbon monoxide alarm.

Crediton resident

Name and address supplied