AN Ipswich dad has today told how he feared for his daughters' safety after a fire broke out in the family's kitchen.Carlito Barilla, 40, was asleep on his sofa when the blaze broke out in his washing machine at about 12.

A GARAGE near Manningtree is today counting the cost following a blaze at a storage building.

Fire ripped through a single storey building at a vehicle recovery yard at South Strand Industrial Estate, Lawford at about 5.15pm yesterday.

The yard is owned by Bridge Garage, based in Cattawade, which uses the building to store recovered vehicles.

Two fire crews from Manningtree and one from Colchester were called to the scene and the fire was under control by 6.15pm.

Manager at the garage, Steve Colwell, said the fire started in a recovered car and the building sustained slight smoke damage.

Mr Colwell said: “We don't know how it started but there are no suspicious circumstances.

“It was only a small fire that started in the car.”

Meanwhile in Ipswich, a dad has today told how he feared for his daughters' safety after a fire broke out in the family's kitchen.

Carlito Barilla, 40, was asleep on his sofa when the blaze broke out in his washing machine at about 12.30am yesterday.

Mr Barilla, of Parliament Road in the California area of Ipswich, said: “It was very scary. I woke up with the smell of the smoke and the fire alarm was bleeping. I went straight to the children's bedroom and got them out.

“There was smoke everywhere, we were covered by it.”

Thankfully Mr Barilla, a trainee nurse at Ipswich Hospital, managed to get his daughters, Keesha, 13, and Kathleen, 11, to safety before calling the fire brigade.

Has a fire alarm come to your rescue? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk