People are being urged to never leave their dishwasher unattended while running after a fire broke out in a family home recently.

A warning shared on Facebook this week shows how dangerous an unattended appliance can be. The fire started when the family, who live in Cavan, were out of the house. The dishwasher malfunctioned and caught on fire, causing serious damage inside the home. The homeowners said they were lucky that the whole house hadn't caught fire and that there is no structural damage, though they won't be able to move back in straight away over the smell in the house. They shared their warning on the Letterkenny Babies Facebook page, calling on others not to take chances when running appliances. "Please share this to let people aware how dangerous it is to leave the dishwasher or any household applience unattened when switched on," they wrote. "Do not go to bed with these left on as it would be a different story for my family this morning. "I came home from work to this yesterday evening. The whole house is destroyed with soot and smoke in every inch and corner. We were very lucky there was no strucural damage or the whole house didn't go up in flames and no one got hurt. "The smell of burning throughout the whole house is so toxic and can't be lived in for a while especially with small kids. "I just want everyone to be aware this can happen... we were very lucky with the outcome as it could have been worse!"