A RELAXING soak in the hot tub turned to disaster for a Dunfermline family when they discovered their house had gone up in flames.

Iain Miller had been in the garden of his Canmore Grove home with daughters Casey, nine, and Holly, eight, before the incident around 6pm last Wednesday.

The three, as well as pet pug Frank, escaped unharmed, however, one of the family's three pet cats was killed.

Devastated Iain said daughter Casey raised the alarm when she decided to go back inside only to be met with smoke billowing out of the door.

"I had had a coal fire earlier in the afternoon and it had died down a bit," he told the Press. "We went out the back, I had just purchased a hot tub, and had been in there for about an hour when my eldest said she was going in to get dried.

"The minute she opened the door, a massive plume of black smoke came out the house. The dog and everything was in there. She started screaming and I went in to see what she was screaming about and all I could see was the fire raging.

"I had my phone with me so I called 999, got the kids away from the house and got the dog out. I couldn't get in to put the fire out because of the smoke. The fire service said staying out was the best thing I could have done."

Iain, who runs his own heating and plumbing business, said he was now focusing on rebuilding the home for him and his daughters.

"Unfortunately the insurance had lapsed – that is just another thing on top of it so I am in the process of seeing what I can do to get things going," added Iain.

"I have been up at the house and it is just a mess but I have to get on with it and get it rebuilt."