Veteran BBC Wales Today presenter Nick Palit and his wife were almost killed in a horror fire which destroyed their home of six year near Cardiff, after their bio-ethanol heater exploded. The 60-year-old broadcaster and his wife Angela, 59, both sustained horrific burns after the environmentally friendly heater blew up and set their entire house ablaze. The force of the explosion was so great Anglea was blown across the room and her hair was set on fire.

The couple had bought the heater five years previously and had no issues with it up until that point but when Anglea turned it on after work on this occasion it started smoking. Nick went to shut it down to be safe. However flames had started coming through it and he opened the window while Angela went to get a damp cloth. It was at this point it exploded catching Angela in the blast.

Although injured the couple, who have five children between them, managed to escape the property and had to watch on as the three storey home was engulfed by the flames.

They were taken to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff and required treatment at a specialist burns unit at Morriston hospital in Swansea. Angela had burns to her face and the back of her hands while Nick had a serious burn on his left elbow.

"I thought I was dead when I was thrown across the room. My hair was on fire, my face was boiling hot, it was just awful," Angela told MailOnline.

Nick added: "We were really lucky to both get out alive. Another 30 seconds and we'd have been hit by the fireball.It was really scary. I've covered fires and explosions during my career but to be caught up in something like that was dreadful."

"It could have been much worse but we are both traumatised and we've lost everything," Nick added. They were also dealt a further blow when their empty property was targeted by thieves, who stole four e-bikes from a garden shed.

The couple are now renting a nearby property as they wait on the insurance company assesses the damage to their gutted property, which is estimated to take six months to rebuild.

Nick took to social media to praise family and friends who have rallied around them since the ordeal. "We've been overwhelmed and humbled by the kindness, care and love of family, friends and neighbours - thanks to all of you we will get through this," he wrote.

Alongside his work on Wales Today Nick, worked on Crimewatch and taught comedian Rhod Gilbert how to be a journalist in Rhod Gilbert's Work Experience. He retired from the newsroom six years ago and ironically has worked as an extra on the BBC's long running medical drama Casualty since then.