A young mother and her 15-month-old infant were lucky to escape with their lives after her ‘dodgy’ air fryer exploded.

On Friday (24 January), Angel Carpenter received a phone call from a neighbor at about 11 a.m. informing her that her house was on fire, and she went back to find it in ruins.

“They said your house is on fire,” the 23-year-old from Bridgnorth, Shropshire, stated. “I thought it was a joke.”

The fire had destroyed the dividing wall between the kitchen and living room, and desperate firemen attempting to combat the blazing flames smashed down the kitchen door.

The single mother, who was working as an administrative assistant at the time of the event, lost all of her furniture as well as her toddler’s newborn clothing and toys to the fire.

Angel was informed by Bridgnorth and Much Wenlock firemen that the fire might have been caused by an electrical failure, causing the air fryer and two areoles to erupt.

“I did not anticipate this. “I always double-check that everything is turned off,” she explained.

“They said it had to do with a plug socket, or it could have been a dodgy air fryer—so much had melted that they couldn’t tell what it was.”

While Angel stated that she “lost everything” in the fire, it might have been far worse if she and her daughter, Frankie, were there in the kitchen at the moment of the explosion.

She went further: “Everything I have worked for has gone into that house.”It was such a shock that I sobbed for 10 hours. It shattered me. I’ve lost everything in that house.

Fortunately, the fire managed to rupture the water lines, which helped extinguish the flames—but this resulted in both water and fire damage to her goods.

However, Angel did not purchase house insurance, so she will not receive reimbursement for the cost of replacing her goods.

She has been compelled to return to her mother, Emma Carpenter’s, home until her own is repaired and restored.

“I should have taken out fire insurance or house insurance,” Angel told me. “You don’t think of it.”

“It does not feel real. It feels like a dream.

Emma, who was caring for young Frankie at the time of the disaster, is now attempting to earn £4,500 through a GoFundMe campaign to help equip her daughter’s house.

Shropshire Fire and Rescue stated: “At 11:17 on Friday, January 24, 2025, SFRS Fire Control got a call reporting a house fire in Bridgnorth.

“We dispatched two fire engines from Bridgnorth and Much Wenlock.” An operations officer was in present.

“Fire personnel employed two hose reel jets, a covering jet, a ventilation fan, and four breathing apparatus.” Firefighters also disconnected solar panels, gas, and electricity.”