A 53-year old housewife used her underwear to put out a fire that threatened the family home.

Jenny Marsey said her son and nephew grabbed her size 18 - 20 cotton lingerie from a pile of washing, doused them in water, and threw them over the fire which broke out while they were trying to fry some bread.

"My $9.90 parachute knickers have come in handy for something," Marsey said. We've had a good laugh that they were a bit like a fire blanket."

Marsey said her son John was cooking along with his cousin Darren when they went to answer a knock at the door, only to find out the kitchen was already ablaze when they returned.

"When they found the pan on fire they did what most people do and panicked," Marsey added. "But they found a pair of my knickers in a washing basket and basically used them as a fire blanket to put out the fire."