A frightened couple who escaped a large blaze at their house by the “skin of their teeth” last week, have been left homeless and say their future is in the lap of the gods.

Professional carer Paul Taylor says it is a miracle no-one was seriously injured in the late-night fire in Green Road, Terriers, on Wednesday last week, but have been left devastated as they have no choice but to live in a hotel and rely on their life-savings.

Along with his wife and the two adults they care for, the group were able to battle their way out of the building to safety, but just days afterwards their insurance company told them that they faced six months without a permanent home, while uncertainty remains over a possible payout for the damage.

Mr Taylor said: “It was such a horrible thing to happen and you just don’t ever really think about what happens to people after something like this.

“The insurance people are looking into it at the moment but there is some concern if there is asbestos in the building or not, which would affect out claim.

“Everyone who could help has helped, but after all of this it was the last thing we were expecting.

“We will run out of money and we don’t really know what to do at the moment. We are in complete limbo.

“First and foremost we have our health, but we don’t know what we’re going to do. We need to look after these two people and it’s making it very difficult in our current situation.”

Bucks Free Press:

The other house damaged in last week’s blaze.

A Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue investigation found an electrical fault in the couple’s garden shed sparked the blaze which spread to a neighbouring shed and then damaged the two adjacent properties.

Two fire crews from High Wycombe and one from Beaconsfield were called to tackle the blaze at about 11pm last Wednesday, while paramedics took Mr Taylor to Stoke Mandeville Hospital as he was suffering from the effects of breathing in smoke.

The sheds were completely gutted by the fire, while three gas canisters had to be removed to stop the inferno from spreading.

Mr Taylor said: “We were all in bed, and my wife noticed a lot of light coming through the window. I had a look from our bedroom at the back of the house and I noticed the flames were coming right up.

“We got out by the skin of our teeth to be honest, I dread to think what would have happened if we hadn’t noticed.

“We got out and like an idiot I tried to put it out with the hosepipe. My wife and the people we care for were looked after by a lady down the road while I was taken into hospital.

“Since then we have been at the Holiday Inn in High Wycombe, but we can’t live like that forever.”

Firefighters stayed at the two properties until about 3.30am the following morning and had to use one jet, two hose reels, four sets of breathing apparatus, a positive pressure ventilation fan and an environmental pack as they battled the flames.

No one was seriously injured in the blaze and at the time the authorities described the buildings as 10 to 15 per cent fire damaged, with smoke causing about 60 per cent damage.