A mother had to lower her three daughters from the first floor window of their home when a fire broke out.
Cyndi Rostigina handed Abby, three, Paige, six, and Chloe, nine, to their father who had already jumped out of the window at the home in Dorset.
The family was unhurt but the blaze destroyed much of the property in Chestnut Way, Christchurch.
Mr Hicks believes a cigarette may have set fire to a sofa. The fire service said the fire alarm saved their lives.
Mr Hicks, 28, jumped 15ft (4.6m) from the window before his partner passed down the three girls to him and then jumped herself.
"We were woken to thick, black smoke with the fire alarms going off," Mr Hicks said.
"I came running out of the bedroom, saw all the smoke, just forgot everything, went and got the kids.
"Their quick thinking and swift actions... means that they will live to see another day - it could so easily have been a far different story"
"I tried to get out of the front windows but they have child safety catches on so in the end I threw the mattress out of the back window.
"My partner passed the kids down to me. After all three came down, she came out herself.
"It's ten years worth of stuff but we are all safe. We have to start again," he added.
They have lived in the housing association property for two years.
Miss Rostigina, 26, suffered some "scrapes and burns" but Mr Hicks credited the smoke alarm with saving the family's life.
"Thank God for the fire alarm," he said.
The children were "bouncing around" and "full of life", he added.
Speaking about the cause of the fire, he said: "It was either a fag butt which hadn't gone out properly or a lamp because there was a lot of electricals quite close to the sofa."
Station manager Richard Coleman said: "Their quick thinking and swift actions to get out and stay out and call us out, means that they will live to see another day - it could so easily have been a far different story."
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