‘PIECING OUR LIVES BACK TOGETHER’
FAMILY OVERWHELMED BY THE SUPPORT OF FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS AFTER CHRISTMAS DAY HOUSE FIRE DESTROYED EVERYTHING THEY OWN
A FAMILY who escaped a devastating house fire on Christmas Day are trying to piece their lives back together after they lost everything.
Mum of three Ann-Marie Mohammed spent the weekend trying to find furniture while getting her children ready to move house and go back to school for the new term.
The 34-year-old said she felt “extremely lucky” to have escaped with her children and sister-in-law, who was staying as a guest at the time.
But she has spent the last fortnight, including Boxing Day and new year, trying to find new accommodation and replace some of the family’s possessions that were destroyed in the blaze.
South Wales Fire and Rescue Service were called to the incident at Merganser Court, in Barry, at about 4.30pm on December 25.
Six fire engines and 40 firefighters were sent to the blaze, which was brought under control by 8pm.
Ann-Marie said she and her 12-yearold son and eight-year-old and threeyear-old daughters lost everything except the clothes they were wearing.
She said they have been in and out of hotels since the fire and are now due to move into temporary accommodation on Winston Road – about a mile and a half from their old home.
Ann-Marie, who has asthma, and her family were treated for smoke inhalation as a precaution at the scene and she says they are feeling better.
Speaking in the hours after the blaze, she said: “There’s nothing left. There’s no upstairs, no roof, no windows and we can’t go inside because it isn’t safe.”
She and her children could smell smoke, which appeared to be coming from a storage cupboard, as they arrived home from their grandparents on Christmas Day.
“We went up to the first-floor kitchen level and it was a bit smokey,” Ann-Marie said. “But at the top level you couldn’t see, it was full of smoke. You couldn’t see anything.”
She said all of the family’s furniture was destroyed by the smoke and flames and she has spent the past two weeks searching Gumtree and Facebook for anything to furnish their next accommodation.
The family have managed to find beds, but are still without a sofa.
Ann-Marie said her important documents and bank cards were also destroyed, making it difficult to do anything.
“We’ve been living off nothing,” she said.
But she has been overwhelmed by the support of generous friends and neighbours who have donated items including clothes.