Family of nine escape massive house fire

A family of nine escaped from a huge blaze that destroyed their home in North Carolina.

Homeowners Doug and Heather Bowers and their seven children, who are aged between three months and 16 years old, were all uninjured by the fire in the state’s Rowan County.

Firefighters arrived at the scene at around 5am, but the flames spread quickly through the three-floor property and destroyed it.

“Very quick and it could not be stopped,” Mr Bowers told WBTV.

He told the channel that his children had been taught to grab the “battle buddy” they share a bedroom with and to get out of the house quickly in case of an emergency.

“The boys had been trained since our first home, meet up at the playground,” he said.

“Don’t worry about anything else … grab the brother that’s in your room, your battle buddy, go to the playground. That’s what they did, grabbed their brothers, went to the playground.”

The family says it took them six minutes from the moment the alarm went off until they were gathered outside watching their house go up in flames.

The fire may have been caused by an electrical issue with an HVAC unit, according to Mr Bowers.

All nine members of the family are now staying with relatives.