AN heroic 11-year-old boy saved the lives of his family when a fire broke out in the bedroom of his Lake District home.

Mason Murray ushered family members to safety when the blaze broke out in the bedroom of his home on School Knott Close, Windermere, on Sunday night.

A fire brigade spokesman said the fire was caused by a charging laptop overheating and bursting into flames on Mason's bed. He was not in the bedroom at the time the fire caught hold at around 10pm.

Sleeping family members, including three other children, did not hear fire alarms going off as bedroom doors were closed. Mason heard the alarm, and went to wake his family.

His auntie, Alexandra Murray, was staying in the spare bedroom with her partner and children. When Mason woke her she went to get her sister Becky, Mason's mum, who was still asleep in the next room.

Mason led the younger children, aged between two and five, out of the smoke-filled house.

Alexandra said that one of her children, two-year-old Kenny, had hidden in the house because he was scared.

Knowing where Kenny was, Mason went back into the house to find his cousin and bring him outside.

“Mason was a hero. We are all so proud of him," said Alexandra. “For an 11-year-old he was so calm and brave. He was holding the younger kids’ hands and helping them out of the house.

“If he had not woken us all up and done that it could have been a very different story.

“When we woke up the fire was well advanced. The flames were filling the room and there was smoke everywhere.

“Everything that was upstairs in the house has been destroyed. It is so sad that this happened just before Christmas, but the main thing is that we are all alive.

“The community have been so amazing rallying around us, my sister especially, and helping with clothes and things.

“We all left that house with nothing but the clothes on our back.”

Mason, mum Becky and Mason’s sister Isla, 5, are now staying at the Old England Hotel in Bowness. South Lakeland District Council is hoping to find them somewhere to live in time for Christmas.

The fire brigade confirmed that the bedroom in the house was gutted and the top floor sustained serious smoke damage.

Crews used two breathing apparatus and one hose reel to put out the fire. A large fan was used to disperse the smoke.

Afterwards station manager Conrad Leather issued a safety warning about the dangers of leaving electrical items on charge.

“This incident is a perfect example of ‘gadgets’ left on charge overheating," he said. “People need to be reminded to ensure their smoke alarms are working and that they don’t leave gadgets permanently on charge, and definitely not on charge on top of furnishings.”