TWO children aged nine and 13, and their parents, escaped unscathed after a home in Exmouth caught fire in the early hours of Friday morning.

TWO children aged nine and 13, and their parents, escaped unscathed after a home in Exmouth caught fire in the early hours of Friday morning.

Exmouth firefighters wore breathing apparatus when they tackled a blaze which tore through the kitchen of a home in Normandy Crescent, off Dinan Way.

The blaze, which the fire brigade said was accidental, began at around 5.30am and quickly engulfed the end-of-terrace house's kitchen, filling the home with thick smoke.

Smoke detectors in the property alerted the sleeping family, rousing them to safety.

The fire crews used a ventilation fan to clear smoke from the property.

The kitchen was severely damaged by the blaze, while the rest of the house suffered smoke damage.