FIRE officers have stopped giving out free smoke detectors after one nearly burned down a house.

Shocked Sharon Gray returned home to find the Fire Angel alarm had ignited.

Her house in Bilton Grange, Yorks, was saved only when daughter Victoria, 16, doused the flames. Sharon, 42, said: “But for her, I dread to think what would have happened.”

Humberside Fire And Rescue Service immediately stopped handing out Fire Angel alarms until a probe into the cause of the incident is carried out. A spokesman said: “This was extremely rare, but we’ll err on the side of caution.”

Alarm suppliers Fire Angel said: “We are working closely with the Fire and Rescue Service.”