Cause of ferocious blaze which destroyed log cabin is revealed
The fire service had determined the cause of a ferocious blaze which destroyed a log cabin.
Video footage taken from the scene in Bridges Avenue, Paulsgrove, showed thick black smoke pluming into the air from behind a house.
Emergency personnel from across the Portsmouth area were deployed to quench the flames last Wednesday.
The fire spread to several outbuildings and a tree.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service (HIWFRS) reported that smoke could be seen drifting across the M27 and have now said that the blaze was an accident.
A spokesman said: ‘The fire is believed to have been caused by an electrical fault within a kitchen appliance.’
Firefighters returned to the address later that evening to conduct a reinspection and extinguish any remaining hotspots. The back garden cabin was occupied by Kim Swanson, who was looking after her mum who lives in the main house.
Not only was the outbuilding Kim’s home, it held great sentimental value as her late father built her a stables.
Ms Swanson made her home out of the pre-existing structure, as well as adding to it.
Her brother Paul said Kim has ‘lost everything’ and has set up a JustGiving page in a bid to get his sister back on track – stating that the blaze has left her virtually homeless and she’s having to stay with family members.
As previously reported in The News, Paul said: ‘My dad bought a piece of land back in the ’70s and he got permission to build a stables for my sister so we were one of the first houses to have a stables in Paulsgrove.
‘When she did it all up, she kept the stable doors and had a shower room fitted and collected anything she needed – only last week we were saying how proud dad would have been if he could see it now.
‘She lost everything, she didn’t even have a spare pair of shoes so friends and family have rallied around.
‘It is all of the memories that have gone so anything we raise will help.’
To donate to the Just Giving page, go to justgiving. com/crowdfunding/paulswanson-1.