Blaze leaves family homeless but ‘lucky to be alive’
AMUM has spoken of her shock after her young family was left homeless and ‘lucky to be alive’ by a house fire.
Crews from Hyndburn Fire Station were called to the blaze on Bold Street, Accrington, at around 2.55pm on Monday, March 13. The blaze is believed to have been caused by an electrical fault.
Nursery worker Rachel Smith, who lives at the house with her sons aged four and six, returned home to find it ablaze.
She said: “I had been out in the afternoon and then went to pick up my son from school when I got a call to say my house was on fire. I’m just in shock.
“We’ve been told it’s ruined but we haven’t been able to go inside and see. We’ve been living there for just over a year. I don’t know what we are going to do.”
Bold Street and Washington Street were closed to traffic for several hours and four neighbouring homes were evacuated on Monday afternoon.
Rachel’s mum Sam Daley, 47, of Accrington, was grateful that none of her family were inside at the time of the fire.
She said: “She had only been out for three hours so it’s happened while she has been out, thank god.
“If it had happened during the night they would have gone, the whole lot of them.
“She is a single mum with two children and has lost absolutely everything.
“The house is totally gutted. It’s not safe to go in, in case of any collapse. They will be coming to stay with me.”
Neighbour Naomi Jones was evacuated along with her partner and three children. She said: “I didn’t realise the extent of the fire until I went across the road and saw the smoke billowing across the top. It was all panic from there.
“The smoke has come into one of the bedrooms and the attic.”
Watch manager Garry Drinkwater said they had evacuated five homes in total. Neighbours were allowed back into their homes later in the day’.
He said: “It’s believed that the fire had been going for about three and a half hours before we got there. We are thinking at the moment it is electrical. When we arrived there was smoke issuing from the roof.
“We broke in through the front door and there was a severe fire between the ceiling and the floor at the top of the landing area.
“The lady whose fire the house is at won’t be able to go back in. It’s not habitable.”
In a updated statement, a fire spokesperson said: “The fire is thought to have started in the floor space under the first floor bedroom and was possibly a fault with electric wiring.
“The occupant and her sons, who luckily were out at the time of the fire, are now having to live with family until they can find alternative accommodation.”