A pregnant mum has told how her family's life has been "ripped apart" after a house fire destroyed their belongings and she was taken to hospital over fears she had gone into labour early due to stress.
Cathrine Doyle had popped out with a friend when she noticed several messages from her partner, telling her she needed to come home urgently.
As she pulled into her road in Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester she noticed the fire engines in front of her also heading to her flat, where her boyfriend and youngest son had been inside.
What started as a small fire in her living room, spread to the kitchen, bathroom and even the roof of the property - leaving her flat absolutely destroyed.
Cathrine, 29, who is 32 weeks pregnant, say they have lost everything - including all the baby clothes and essentials they'd purchased ahead of the birth.
She even had to be rushed to hospital a few days after the blaze, as the anxiety and stress had caused her to fear she might have been going into early labour.
Now she has issued an urgent warning to anyone who uses candles in their home, after discovering that a single tealight had caused the horrific fire, reported the Manchester Evening News.
The incident happened on June 1 after Cathrine had gone to meet a friend and left her partner and son at the flat.
She had lit a tealight earlier that day to make her living room smell 'fresh,' and had then hung some towels to dry outside on her balcony a short distance away. It's believed that one of the towels was set alight by the candle.
"My partner tried putting it out himself by throwing water on it but it was so warm outside it didn't work," Cathrine said.
"He started panicking so got my son out of the house. At first it wasn't clear how bad the fire was but when they looked up they realised the loft was on fire and it was uncontrollable.
"There were four or five fire engines and it took around four hours for them to put the fire out. At 8pm there were still hot points all over the flat."
Cathrine was told that because of the toxic fumes emitted by the fire, most of her belongings were unsalvageable. She was only able to rescue a few important documents.
"It could have been a lot worse and we are all safe that's the main thing, but we've lost all our white goods, furniture, electrical items and clothes. We're due a baby in six weeks and we've lost all the stuff we just bought.
"Our life has been ripped apart. My son is only six. It's a traumatising experience for an adult so I can't imagine what's going through his head. He keeps asking when we're going home."
Cathrine is currently staying with her two sons at her brother's house whilst she waits for her local council to find her suitable temporary accommodation.
"I just want to raise awareness that a tealight can literally turn your life upside down," she said. "We left the candle unattended for five minutes but we were still in the house.
"It's just so upsetting. We've not been sleeping properly. When you've got to tell people it's like you're constantly reliving that moment.
"I ended up in hospital last week because they thought I was going into early labour. Luckily I wasn't but it's just how much it can affect you - the amount of stress it causes.
"You see this happening all the time but you never expect it to happen to you. I don't have home insurance either. I just want to put the message out there about how dangerous candles can be. You never know when something like this is going to happen to you."
Friends of Cathrine have set up a Gofundme page to help support the family get back on their feet, and be able to afford new supplies and clothes for the children.
