A COUPLE had to flee their house after a fuse box blew up and burst into flames.

Olive Litttle, 72, and John Perfect, 75, had to move in with family members after their bungalow in Maurice Road, Canvey, was left gutted by the blaze.

Ms Little was cooking in the kitchen at about 10.45am, on Friday, when the radio started crackling.

She looked into the fuse box and saw it was sparking.

The terrified couple quickly grabbed their coats, pet dog and mobile phone and went outside, before smoke and flames began billowing out of their home.

Ms Little said: “It all happened so quickly, there was nothing we could do to save anything.

“We didn’t think to close the doors, so the whole bungalow has been completely gutted by smoke and water. I guess the main thing is we got out just in time.

“I’m just glad I was home, otherwise John probably would have been having a nap in the living room. At least we had a smoke detector, so that would have raised the alarm.

“It makes you realise how important they are.

“We’ve never had any problems with our fuse box, so we’re just really shocked this happened. It’s awful.”

Fourteen carp in the garden pond were electrocuted after a surge travelled through an electrical pump.

The couple originally thought the coy were dead, as they appeared to be floating on top of the water for a number of hours, but they have since revived.

It is thought the valuable fish were stunned in the incident.

A fire officer remained at the bungalow on Friday afternoon investigating the blaze.

UK Power Networks also attended the scene to make the area safe and isolate the electricity supply. Engineers are looking into the reason for the fuse box fault.

Steve Kirkham, station officer at Canvey, said: “The woman absolutely did the right thing by getting her partner and her dog and getting out of the house.

“It was a very distressing call as the couple were obviously very upset.”