A funeral directors’ opened up to help families evacuated from a burning block of flats.

Four people were treated for smoke inhalation and two taken to hospital following the blaze, in Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey last night (October 15).

Four fire engines were sent to converted doctor’s surgery Overton House in Broadway, opposite Blackburn Lodge, just after 7.45pm, where a first-floor apartment was alight.

Funeral director Ricky Kettle and office manager Katie Rogers opened up the nearby Palliser Platt and Sons office to offer shelter and hot drinks to those affected after Katie spotted the flashing light.

The 38-year-old went to the house and saw three families who had been evacuated including a mother and her baby.

She told KentOnline: “My main concern was the baby. I just wanted to make sure the baby was out of the cold.

“As there was nowhere else they could go I opened up our offices so the families could get inside.

“The paramedics and emergency services also used the office so they could check people over, especially one young girl who said she had breathed in the smoke.

“It was not a massive fire and was contained just to one flat so most of the families were let back in when it was all sorted except for one lady and her son whose flat it was.

“From what she said she had left a saucepan full of rice on the hob while she went to the toilet but when she returned the flat was on fire.”

The fire service confirmed the blaze started in the kitchen and said it was thought to be an accident.

They left the scene just after 8.35pm.

Both Ricky, the 34-year-old director of the funeral parlour, and Katie stayed at the office offering teas, coffees and glasses of water to the evacuated families until around 10pm when most of the residents were allowed back into their homes.

Four people were treated for smoke inhalation and two were passed into the care of paramedics and taken to Medway Maritime Hospital.