LUCKY TO BE ALIVE
Family lost so much in Boxing Day blaze – but now their community is rallying in their hour of need
THEY lost everything in a Boxing Day fire that ravaged their home - reducing clothes, toys and Christmas presents to a blackened mess.
But after escaping the blaze that came close to taking their lives, this family are feeling lucky to be alive and grateful for the help of neighbours.
Krystal Straw was at home with her two daughters and her daughter’s boyfriend when a fierce fire started in one of the bedrooms of her house, in Walker, Newcastle.
The frantic mum screamed at her children to get out the house and they all managed to get to safety before the smoke and flames spread further.
But the blaze, which was contained in Krystal’s 15-year-old daughter’s bedroom by a door, destroyed all the teenager’s belongings.
Smoke left the rest of the house, on Windhill Road, blackened.
Since the blaze friends, neighbours and complete strangers alike have rallied round the family, offering clothes, toys, presents and cash to help replace what they have lost.
And now as Krystal tells of her relief that she and her family are safe, the mum has thanked all those who have helped during their hour of need.
The 35-year-old said: “I do feel lucky to be alive. I know we have lost what we have, but it’s not our lives.”
Krystal had been downstairs with five-year-old Ava, while her other daughter Abbie Taylor, 15, was upstairs in her room with boyfriend Rhys Davison, before the fire started.
At around 9.30pm the mum went upstairs, where 15-year-old Rhys had been asleep, and asked the young couple to come down to the living room so they could all spend the evening together.
But soon after Krystal began to notice a burning smell.
And when she went to check Abbie’s bedroom it was engulfed by flames.
“There were flames right up the windows, and when I opened the door it got worse,” Krystal explained.
The terrified mum slammed the door and raced downstairs to get her family out the house.
“I was hysterical,” she said. “I was just shouting; ‘get out, get out’.”
The family managed to escape the house before firefighters arrived to extinguish the blaze.
But they are now coming to terms with the fact that pretty much everything in Abbie’s bedroom, including all her clothes, furniture and new Christmas presents, has been destroyed.
And the rest of the house, which has been the family’s home for five years, has been heavily smoke damaged.
Krystal, Abbie, Ava and Rhys are now staying with Krystal’s mum Janice Taylor while they wait to discover if they will be able to return to their home.
After the fire a fundraising page was set up on the online giving site GoFundMe, and more than £1,400 has now been donated to help the family get back on their feet.
And as news of the blaze spread around Walker, the community has responded by giving them clothes, gifts and other essentials to help replace what they have lost.
“It’s been really overwhelming,” said Krystal. “People have brought clothes for the little ones, smellies and cash.
“I feel grateful to live in Walker. Something like this shows you have got that support around you. It brings out the best in the community.”
And as she relives her ordeal, Krystal is also thankful that she chose to wake Rhys up when she did, and that Abbie and Ava were not in their rooms when the fire broke out.
She added: “Ava would normally be in bed at that time, but she was up late because it was Boxing Day. And if I hadn’t asked Abbie and Rhys to come down they would have still been up there.”
Firefighters say the fire was started by an extension lead that had been overloaded.
A spokesman for Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service said: “Our crews from Byker attended and there was also a fire engine from Wallsend. All the residents were safely out of the house. We used four breathing apparatus and four hose reels.
“The cause was an extension cable within one of the bedrooms that had been accidentally overloaded.”