PARENTS of a teenager, who suffered serious burns in a fire at his Stowmarket home, have dashed back from their holiday to be at his bedside today.

By VICTORIA KNOWLES

Victoria.knowles@eveningstar.co.uk

PARENTS of a teenager, who suffered serious burns in a fire at his Stowmarket home, have dashed back from their holiday to be at his bedside today.

Neighbours of former professional golfer Chris Aldred told of their shock after a blaze broke out leaving his youngest son in hospital.

Meanwhile Mr Aldred's eldest son, James, was praised by firefighters for helping Richard, his injured brother, out of the house which was engulfed by smoke.

Mr Aldred, who was a member of the Stowmarket Golf Club, and his wife, were on holiday in France when the fire started.

Their two sons are believed to have been looking after the house while the couple were away.

Fire crews from Ixworth, Stowmarket, Elmswell and Needham Market were called to the house in School Meadow, Wetherden, just after 1am yesterday to a fire in an upstairs bedroom.

Friend and neighbour Roger Tombs said they were alerted when the two brothers rang their door bell for help.

"They came to us first and we treated Richard's burns in the first instance. His hands, chest and feet were burnt but luckily his face seemed to have escaped injury.

"We put his hands and feet in cold water to help him. His brother was not hurt. Richard was taken to Bury St Edmunds and then transferred to Chelmsford and his brother obviously went with him," said Mr Tombs.

The Stowupland High School pupil is currently in Broomfield Hospital burns unit.

Mr Tombs added: "I am not sure what happened yet because he was understandably in shock so we did not ask too many questions. But it seems to have started in his bedroom.

"We have known the boys for many years and they used to play with our son when they were younger".

Another neighbour, who did want to be named said: "We were woken up by the fire engines and then it was chaos around here. I did not see who was injured but it certainly caused a stir."

An investigation is being carried out at the moment to find out the cause of the blaze.

Assistant divisional officer Carl Francis said the fire could have been a lot worse if it had not been for the quick action of the fire crews.

We were called to a fire in an upstairs bedroom. It was a severe fire but was confined to just one room. There were concerns that the fire could spread in to the roof space of the building. Although the quick work of the first two crews on the scene stopped this happening.

"Two teenage boys were outside the house when we arrived and one was suffering from burns. I would like to commend the actions of the older boy who was instrumental in getting the injured boy out of the house. There is a great deal of smoke and heat damage in the house but it could have been a lot worse."