My family’s lives were saved by strangers after our EV ‘exploded’ on the driveway and set fire to the house
STRANGERS saved the lives of a sleeping family after their electric van exploded into flames and set fire to their home in the dead of night.
The trio – who were driving past – screamed and banged on the Hensbys front door as the inferno spread.
Within seconds, Julie and David were charging around their Cornwall home saving their three kids as all hell broke lose.
Julie, from Ruddlemoore, in St Austell, said: “We heard banging on the door and these people said ‘fire, fire, get out, get out‘.
“If it wasn’t for them then this could have been a whole different story.”
The parents managed to grab Jay, 15, who is deaf and disabled, and twin daughters Summer and Aimee, nine, from upstairs.
They fled the blaze in just their pants and within ten minutes the blaze had torn through the building.
Julie, 44, says the van’s electric charging point was fitted by the front door and terrifyingly hampered their escape.
Neighbours were later forced to flee their homes as the inferno ripped through overhead electricity wires and set off explosions.
The Hensbys say they have “lost everything” following Monday’s blaze, which took hold just after 11pm.
They are still in shock and face months in emergency accommodation until their home – charred by fire and smoke – can be sorted.
It is unclear what sparked the blaze.
Julie said: “These three strangers literally saved our lives.
“We want to thank them for saving our lives. We have nothing now.”