A homeowner whose home was saved from burning down has praised the 'unsung heroes' of every day life - smoke alarms.

Karen Lonergan and her family were away from their house, in Sevenoaks, when they received a call saying the alarms were sounding.

The fire department were called to The Rise on Sunday, February 28, where they discovered a lot of smoke, and a small loft fire.

Three engines were called to the incident at around 3pm where crews wearing breathing apparatus rescued the family's two dogs and quickly extinguished the blaze, Karen says that if it hadn't been for the smoke alarms the situation could have been much worse.

She said: "I am just so thankful that we had working smoke alarms - I am pretty sure we would have lost our whole home otherwise."

Flames had caused damage to the roof joists, ceilings and sky-light windows as well as destroying the boiler and the first floor bathroom.

Watch manager Danny Barrett said that the damage could have been far worse.

He said: "It’s highly likely that the whole house would have been destroyed if the alarm hadn’t been raised when it was, as the fire appeared to have been smouldering for many hours and it had really started to take hold when we arrived."

Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) has made a short film with Karen, as she talks about the aftermath of the fire and the impact it has had on her family, to help highlight the latest smoke alarm testing campaign - ‘Unsung Heroes’.

She said: "Knowing now that the fire was probably slowly smouldering away in the roof overnight, while my daughters and granddaughter were staying with me, is very scary and doesn’t bear thinking about.

"I know we were very lucky that no one was hurt. You just don’t realise how distressing and disruptive a fire in your home can be.

"If anyone doesn’t have smoke alarm, make sure you get them today and if you have them, please test them every week to make sure they will work when you need them to."

To find out more about KFRS latest campaign, click here.