A HORRIFIED mum described the devastation left by a house fire, and "thanked God" her little boy was not inside.

Tearful Jayne Garner, 33, had to break the terrible news to five-year-old Jack that the family dog had been killed and all their belongings destroyed.

She was lucky to escape the blaze, which began in the kitchen of the house in Woodland Place, New Earswick, in the middle of the night. Now, almost a week after last's Saturday fire, Jane told how she was glad her son had been away that evening, so that he was not in danger.

"I could not get back in to save the dog, so I just thank God Jack was not there at the time," she said.

"Thankfully, he was at his grandparents' house that night, or who knows what might have happened.

"I tried to explain to him about the fire but he doesn't really understand. All he knows is that his dog is dead and his toys are gone.

"When I went back into his room it broke my heart to see all his things ruined."

Jayne woke at 4am to find the house full of smoke and called the fire service on her mobile, because the landline was dead.

"I had a friend staying that night and neither of us could see anything because of all the smoke," she said. "We could only find the door by feeling about for where it was."

They managed to escape but then Jayne realised that her Staffordshire Terrier, Nipper, was still trapped inside.

"I tried to run back but my friend wouldn't let me," she said. "At that point, flames were all over the bottom of the house and moving up the stairs.

"If the firefighters hadn't been able to stop it spreading, the whole house might have gone up."

She said: "I've lost all my belongings apart from a couple of photographs and some other bits.

"When I went to my bedroom and saw how badly damaged it was, I realised it was lucky I had woken up or I could have been killed.

"I'm still in shock, and I won't let my little boy go inside the house until it is all cleaned up and safe to live in again." Jayne and her son are staying with relatives while the Joseph Rowntree Trust, which shares ownership of the house, looks for a temporary home for her.

"It will take months before we can move back into our house as all the ceilings, floors and some walls will have to be ripped out and replaced," said Jayne.

A North Yorkshire fire service spokesman said the fire was caused by a piece of electrical equipment.

"We would remind people to turn off and unplug electrical equipment before going to bed to avoid the risk of fire," he said.