TWO Ipswich families are today coming to terms with devastation caused by fires in their homes this weekend.

TWO Ipswich families are today coming to terms with devastation caused by fires in their homes this weekend.

Simon Brooks, 27, and Sarah Mower, 30, were sleeping upstairs when they realised there was a fire in the living room of their Ranelagh Road home at about 1.40am on Saturday.

Mr Brooks said: “We grabbed the cat and got outside.

“There was smoke all around and the house still smells of it. The lounge is destroyed but at least no on was hurt.”

Ms Mower said: “It was quite a shock. You don't know how you'll react until it happens and I wasn't pleased with how I reacted because I panicked.

“But it could have been worse. The fire service said if the door hadn't been closed the fire would have spread throughout the house.

“And our neighbours were great, they gave us somewhere to stay after it happened.”

Another fire-victim trying to look on the bright side is widower Leonard Gray, 53.

Mr Gray managed to safely leave his home in Speedwell Road, in the Chantry area of Ipswich, along with 14-year-old daughter Erin, after a blaze broke out in their kitchen.

The flames had started at about 2.30pm on Saturday and took around 15minutes for firefighters to bring under control.

Mr Gray said: “The cooker caught on fire and it was a bit of a catastrophe.

“I think I left the grill on after I did some baking and then my daughter asked me if I was still cooking because she could smell burning.

“I couldn't put water on the fire because it was an electric cooker. And I tried to smother it but the heat was so intense and I couldn't see very well so I said to Erin she should dial 999.”

N Firefighters also spent nearly three-and-a-half hours tackling a fire in an Ipswich bedroom on Saturday.

Two crews were called to the blaze in the first-floor bedroom of a semi-detached house in Robin Drive at around 4pm.

A mother and baby were treated for smoke inhalation and officers were today due to investigate whether the fire was suspicious.

N See page 3 for a blaze in Felixstowe which destroyed one of the town's landmarks.