A FAMILY has been left homeless after a huge blaze wrecked their detached barn conversion.

A fire started in the TV, spread to the roof and then took hold of the whole house.

And fire chiefs said the family was lucky the fire started in daylight – as if it had been during the night they might have struggled to escape.

Andrea Wensley, 43, of Stanhill Road, Oswaldtwistle, said she had to act quickly to get everyone out of the house after the blaze started in the living room.

She said: “I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone.

“The TV went up and I just wanted to get everyone out of the house as quickly as possible.”

The fire left the property gutted and firefighters were able to salvage few of the family’s possessions from the blaze, which started at around 4.30pm on Saturday.

Mrs Wensley lives in the converted barn with her husband, Jim, 50, and four of their children - Isabelle, nine, Jasmine, 15, Oliver, 17, and Paris 21. The couple have another daughter, Levi, 23, but she lives in Liverpool.

Incident commander Phil Whittaker said: “Initial reports are that it could have been an electrical fault in the TV, but we will have to do a full investigation.

“The roof was destroyed and there was a large amount of debris and fallen beams, so it was quite a mess inside.

“There was also a lot of water damage from when we put out the fire.”

Four fire engines attended the scene, and an aerial platform was used to access the roof.

Mr Whittaker said: “It was well alight when crews got here. It spread really fast.

“There is an extension on the back and the fire has got under the ceiling boards and spread really quickly.

“It is lucky it happened during daylight. If it was night it could have been a different story.

“But Mrs Wensley did well to get everyone out.”

Mr Wensley, who owns an import and export business, was out when the fire started.

He said: “I came home and it was all blocked off. It was a massive shock.

“I am just glad everyone got out all right.

“If it happened while we were in bed we probably wouldn’t have got out.

“I never thought this sort of thing would happen to me.

“You read about things like this in the paper, but never expect it to happen to you.”