PRECIOUS possessions were destroyed in a blaze which ripped through a family’s prayer room.

Three fire engines were called to a detached home in Warwick Gardens, Morris Green at 1.15pm.

The blaze, which is believed to have been sparked by a fault in an electrical box in the prayer room, caused severe damage to the house.

Seema Kansara, aged 52, is devastated priceless family heirlooms were destroyed by the flames.

The mother-of-four said the fire took hold in the prayer room of the home she shares with her husband, sister and three youngest children shortly after she called the emergency services.

Mrs Kansara said: “Everything is gone. That room is where we keep everything special. You cannot replace what I have lost.

“When I came back from the shops at about 1pm I could hear a noise like breaking glass – it was the electrical sparking.

“I thought someone had broken into the house so I was about to run upstairs to check when I suddenly saw the smoke coming from the prayer room.

“I opened the door and there was so much smoke I could not see a thing, so I called 999 and the emergency services told me to get straight out of the house.

“As I ran out I saw everything burst into flames. That was when it hit me what had happened.”

The prayer room contained a Hindu shrine and a shivling; a stone object which belonged to Mrs Kansara’s grandfather and which she has prayed to every Monday since her own father died 15 years ago.

The room was also used to display all the family’s most precious possessions and contained special silver belonging to Mrs Kansara’s parents, old images of them and photographs of the whole family.

Firefighters initially believed the blaze could have been caused by incense sticks which had been burning on the shrine earlier that day, but Mrs Kansara said they were all out hours before she left the house.

She praised the community in Warwick Gardens for coming to her family’s aid in their hour of need.

Mrs Kansara added: “Our neighbours have been amazing – people waited with me and offered me drinks and head massages to calm me down.”

Neil Mercer, Bolton Central watch manager, said: “There was 100 per cent fire damage caused to the prayer room where the fire started, and 100 per cent smoke damage to the rest of the property.

“The firefighters did a very good job stopping the fire from spreading throughout the building and contained it to the one room.

“We have given the homeowners some advice on fire safety and doing proper checks. All of the doors in the house were left open at the time of the fire, which has made the damage worse.”