John and Margaret Pemberton owe their lives to the smoke detector that woke them, giving them the vital time needed to get out of the house, in Fennant Road, Ponciau, near Wrexham, and reach safety.

"Without that alarm going off we wouldn't have known what was happening, it was the middle of the night and we were fast asleep.

"But we were able to wake up, escape and phone the fire brigade for help," said Mr Pemberton.

Their terrifying experience started at 3.30am on Saturday when the fire broke out, caused by a faulty dehumidifier in a downstairs room.

"At first it is quite disorientating because you don't know what is going on.

"We heard the alarm and I went to take a look.

"I got to the top of the stairs and saw that smoke was coming out of one of the rooms. My first instinct was to see if I could put it out myself with water. But then I realised it was an electrical fire and too far gone, water would just have made things worse."

Mr and Mrs Pemberton quickly got out of the house and called the fire brigade.

"They were very good and made sure we stayed warm in one of their vehicles while the teams got to work putting the fire out," said Mr Pemberton.

"Afterwards they said that the most important thing was that we got out alive, and that is very true. The smoke detector did its job in waking us up and alerting us to the danger."

Mr Pemberton added that he would like to thank all friends and neighbours who have been so kind in rallying round with offers of support.

"They have been very thoughtful to us and we appreciate that greatly," he said.