As flames roared through the house after hot fat went up with a huge bang, desperate mother Emilia Santos put herself at risk and suffered serious burns as she tried to shield her youngest children, three-year-old twins from the fire.

Seconds earlier what began as a chip pan overheating became more serious when her husband Manuel made the fatal mistake of throwing water over it, causing a sudden explosive blast in the house at Stagsden, Orton Goldhay, Peterborough.

When the fire started, Mrs Santos managed to get five of her children out of the house and had just gone back for the twins, who were seated at the dining room table, when the explosion rocked the house.

After getting badly burned Mrs Santos and her husband managed to get out of the house with the youngest children. Mrs Santos, the twins Shanad and Natasha, and their 12-year-old daughter Jessica all suffered serious burns to their arms and hands. Mr Santos had facial burns but all were released from hospital after treatment.

With her arms in bandages today, Mrs Santos said she was preparing dinner for her husband, Manuel, and their young family at 8pm when the drama began. With tears streaming down her face, she said: "It was terrifying. When the bang happened all I could think about was my children. I jumped on the twins to save them."

Realising the pan was blazing, she screamed for everyone to get out of the house and that's when, without thinking, Mr Santos threw water over it.Firefighters said the blast was so severe that photographs and pictures several metres away from the pan were scorched. The incident has prompted Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service to issue an urgent warning about the dangers of pouring water on chip pan fires.

Watch manager Ian Vickers said: "I want to urge residents never to use water to try and extinguish a fire involving hot oils and fats. The result was a fireball which exploded inside the kitchen."

The fire came just a week after Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service launched a kitchen fire safety campaign, urging residents to take care when cooking in the kitchen.

More than half of all accidental fires in the home occur in the kitchen, and Peterborough has the highest rate of kitchen fires in Cambridgeshire, with a total of 433 in the last five years. Of these , 157 were caused by oils or fats which ignited.

In the same period, one Peterborough resident was killed in a kitchen fire, a total of 67 residents were injured and seven residents had to be rescued from the home.













UPDATE 9.30AM: Three of those injured in the fire are believed to have suffered severe burns and are being treated in hospital.

BREAKING NEWS 7.30AM: FIVE people were treated for smoke inhalation and burns after a fire swept through a Peterborough home

The blaze started in the kitchen of a home in Stagsden, Orton Goldhay, shortly after 8pm yesterday.

Crews from the city's Dogsthorpe and Stanground stations were called to tackle the fire, which was under control by 9pm.

The fire was caused by a faulty thermostat on a chip fryer.

Full story in tonight's Evening Telegraph.