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House has entire wall blown off after 'tumble dryer fire' caused huge explosion

Ellen Manning
The house explosion in Kessingland, near Lowestoft, Suffolk. See SWNS copy SWCAexplosion: This is the devastation left when a huge explosion ripped through a family's home while they were watching TV. The entire gable end of the terraced home was blown out exposing the rooms and giving it the appearance of a giant dolls' house. A hero neighbour rescued the male homeowner from his burning home. The un-named neighbour ran into the partially collapsed and burning house and managed to extract its dazed occupant who had been watching TV.
The whole side of the house in Kessingland, near Lowestoft, Suffolk, was blown off when a tumbledryer exploded (Picture: SWNS)

An end-of-terrace house had its entire side blown off when a ‘tumble dryer fire’ caused a huge blast just days before Christmas.

The occupant of the house was watching TV when the blast ripped through the home and was saved by a hero neighbour who ran into the partially-collapsed building to rescue him.

Firefighters were called to the house in Kessingland, near Lowestoft, Suffolk, just after 8:30pm on Wednesday evening after an explosion destroyed the wall on the property and started a fire.

The blast took out the whole gable end of the house, exposing the kitchen and sitting room downstairs and a bedroom and study on the first floor.

The explosion took off the whole gable end of the end-of-terraced home (Picture: SWNS)
The explosion took off the whole gable end of the end-of-terraced home (Picture: SWNS)
The house explosion in Kessingland, near Lowestoft, Suffolk left the entire property exposed. (SWNS)
The house explosion in Kessingland, near Lowestoft, Suffolk left the entire property exposed. (SWNS)

Neighbours said the blast had been caused by a tumble dryer, though fire chiefs stressed the cause had not been established.

One neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: "I was in bed with my little girl. All I heard was loud beeping from an alarm.

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"One man ran over and was trying to put the fire out. The man whose house it was was just standing outside what was left of his house and he just looked in shock.

"All of his stuff is visible- the whole side of his house is just gone. I've heard that he's been taken to hospital and that he has suffered burns."

The occupant of the house was reportedly rescued by a neighbour (Picture: SWNS)
The occupant of the house was reportedly rescued by a neighbour (Picture: SWNS)

Paramedics were called and the man was taken to the James Paget Hospital in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.

Firefighters stayed at the scene until after midnight putting out the blaze and while some reports blamed the explosion on a tumble dryer, the fire service made it clear that the cause of the explosion is still to be determined.

It’s not the first time a bizarre incident has left a real-life house looking like a dolls’ equivalent.

In September a family was left homeless after building work on the house next door caused their walls to collapse, leaving two rooms fully exposed and making a sound “like a bomb going off”.