Moment solar panels explode at £600,000 newbuild home that goes up in flames with family inside - captured in doorbell video footage

By JOSHUA HAINING, NEWS REPORTER Published: 12:24, 28 May 2026 | Updated: 12:27, 28 May 2026 A set of solar panels on a £600,000 newbuild home exploded into flames and destroyed the roof while the family were inside, completely unaware. Ring doorbell footage, captured on May 25, showed the roof of the property in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, turn into a flaming inferno as the solar panels blew up. Neighbours described the horror of watching the family scramble to safety out of the four-bedroom detached house at about 10.30am on Bank Holiday Monday as the temperature had already hit 22C. Nobody was injured in the explosion and an off-duty firefighter rescued three adults and one child from the home. Five fire crews then arrived at the house and worked quickly to control the blaze. Neighbour and off-duty fireman Robert Shipman was doing DIY when he spotted the roof engulfed in flames and followed the smoke over to the property. Mr Shipman alerted the family to the explosion on their roof and with two other off-duty firemen who lived nearby, helped evacuate neighbouring properties. He said: 'As I was coming round the corner I saw a big cloud of smoke. 'I banged on the door and said I'm an off-duty firefighter can you please get out your house - it's on fire. Shocking ring doorbell footage captured the moment solar panels on a £600,000 newbuild home's roof burst into flames and exploded The four-bedroom detached property in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, turned into a flaming inferno while the family were inside Off-duty fireman Robert Shipman saw the smoke from his home nearby, went over and alerted the family 'The family didn't realise their roof had gone, they were on the first floor. They got out and we managed to get two of their pets out. 'We knocked on the next door neighbour's door and said there's a fire, get out.' At least four cars were damaged in the blaze as tiles fell off the roof and on to the vehicles. Having seen the footage of the roof instantly exploding, Mr Shipman said he had 'never seen anything like it'. 'You could see some really thick orange flames coming through the loft hatch,' he said. One neighbour who watched the property go up in flames said the blaze 'happened so suddenly.  'One minute the roof was smoking a little and the next it was a raging inferno.' They added: 'People around here are speculating the solar panels may have overheated but there's not much left of them.' Five fire crews responded to the explosion and worked to control the blaze which completely destroyed the roof Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service said: 'Five crews and an aerial appliance from Moulton attended the fire and quickly worked to extinguish the blaze which had started in the roof of the house. 'Three adults and one child were helped from the house by an off-duty firefighter. 'After an initial fire investigation, the fire is believed to have been started accidentally.' The Fire Service have not ruled out the weather as a factor involved in causing the solar panels to explode.  This comes as the UK had one of the hottest May days ever amid a record-breaking 35C bank holiday heatwave. A spokesman for Northamptonshire Police said: 'Emergency services are at the scene of a major house fire in Wellingborough which started shortly before 10.45am on Monday. 'At least four fire appliances are at the scene of the blaze, at a detached new-build property in Prospero Drive. Nobody is believed to be inside the property. 'Police have closed a number of roads in the immediate area of the blaze which is also blowing smoke across the nearby A509. 'Members of the public are being asked to avoid the area and to close windows to prevent smoke getting inside.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.