Yahoo News Family with three young children lose everything in devastating house fire
A devastating blaze has left a young family homeless, with only their passports salvaged from the wreckage.
The fire broke out on Buckingham Drive in Chapel St Leonards shortly after 3pm on Sunday, June 9. Originating in the garden of one of three bungalows, the flames quickly spread to adjacent properties, ultimately affecting six homes and rendering two uninhabitable. Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue have attributed the cause to the "spontaneous combustion of compostable materials".
Among the worst affected was the home of Mccorley Booth, Chelsea Moore, and their three children, aged seven, five, and one. Fortunately, they managed to escape without injury, as did their neighbours, but they could only save their passports.
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A JustGiving fundraiser has been set up for the family, reports Lincolnshire Live.
Simon Vann, the landlord of the destroyed property, expressed his sympathy on the fundraising page, which has been set up by his daughter: "Today a young family lost their home due to no fault of their own, there was a fire at a house in Chapel St Leonards."
He further commented: "This was someone's house, someone's home, and now it has gone. This was a house fire that started in a neighbouring property in the garden and spread to their home, my house."
"They have lost everything, they have three young children and one on the way so this is devastating for them. If anyone can help, please please let me know."
Speaking on the family's behalf, best friend Shannon Elliott, from Hogsthorpe, said: "They're desperately in need of a roof over their heads.
"They've been overwhelmed with donations and we are all so thankful for people's generosity. The Chapel St Leonards community has really pulled together."
Helen Gridley, Divisional Commander of Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue revealed to BBC Radio Lincolnshire that no one was living in the bungalow where the fire originated. She stated, "Unfortunately we have two properties that are no longer habitable, one property that has some external damage and three properties with damage to the rear of their gardens such as fencing and sheds."
"Sometimes if you get a pile of compostable materials, there is an ability for it to spontaneously combust. It doesn't need a lot of heat, it depends what the materials consist of. This was the bungalow where nobody resides in at this moment in time."
"Unfortunately, due to the weather conditions and dryness of people's fences and sheds, the fire was then spreading both right and left to the adjoining properties."
A fire service spokesperson said: "Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue were called out at 3.19pm on June 9 to a fire on Buckingham Drive in Chapel St Leonards. This resulted in internal and external fire damage to two properties, external damage to a further property and three more properties with damage within the gardens."
"The cause was accidental and started in one of the gardens. We had six fire crews in attendance to extinguish the fire. There were no injuries thankfully."
