Family loses everything, including pets, in house fire

A Perth family of five has lost everything in a house fire just days from Christmas.

Three teenagers were forced to flee from the blaze, but the family's pet cats and their kittens couldn't be saved.

The fire took hold of the house in Kenwick at 2.30pm today.

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Mother Debbie said they didn't have time to save anything.

"I don't know what to do, it's just heartbreaking," she said.

"Didn't grab anything, we haven't got anything just the clothes on our back."

She said the fire, thought to have been caused by an electrical fault, took hold in a split second.

"It just went up," she said.

Thick black smoke went billowing into the sky, as three teenagers fled into the street.

Alerted by a neighbour, they had no idea about the danger they were in.

"I knocked on the window, and they couldn't hear me for a while so I started shouting around a bit - and then three little girls come out," Ian Woods said.

Firefighters were on the scene within minutes but the family home of more than two decades couldn't be salvaged.

The family's two pet cats perished in the flames along with their kittens, while other animals were rushed to a nearby vet.

The family didn't have insurance, with money being raised on a crowdfunding page.