Local residents have been donating clothes, toys and household items to affected families
(Picture: London Fire Brigade)Crayford residents are donating clothes, bedding and toiletries to the families who “lost everything” after a “horrific” grass fire spread to four terraced homes.
Around 60 firefighters tackled the large blaze on Crayford Way on Monday evening. It started in a nearby grassland and spread to the adjacent houses.
London Fire Brigade said half of the ground floors of four homes were damaged, with the first floors and roofs also destroyed.
While the cause of the fire is under investigation by the brigade and the Metropolitan Police, affected families have been left to pick up the pieces.
She smelt smoke around 5.30pm on Monday and walked outside to have a look.
“It was awful. A lot of people just assumed the heath was on fire again. Dartford Heath has been on fire a lot, and then we went outside and went ‘oh no, that’s someone’s house’.”
Ms Morton said all four homes have been destroyed, whether by the fire or water damage, and residents are not allowed to return.
“The council has put some of them up in a Travelodge but other than that, they’ve got none of their belongings or clothes. They’re not allowed to go back. There are pets missing, which we are all trying to search for.”
She said there have been numerous grass fires in the area in recent weeks.
“In the field that was on fire yesterday, there was a fire about two or three weeks ago when it was that heatwave. So we’ve always had worries about it.”
She has opened up her home to receive toys, clothes and bedding for affected families, including a mother and her two daughters, aged 12 and 10, and a son aged 5. She said an elderly couple, including an amputee man, were rescued from their house by a carer.
“It’s been quite bittersweet the way the community has banded together to try and help the families. If anyone is struggling, we won’t let them fall down, because we’re a team.
“It’s so close to everyone and it’s someone’s home, we all think ‘that could have been our house’.”
Ms Morton said the evacuated families feel “very overwhelmed” by the £1,900 raised on GoFundMe.
“They are amazed. We did it before they even knew and they’re just really speechless about how generous everyone has been,” she told the Standard.
“The elderly couple, they’ve lived there for 60 years, so they’re devastated. Everyone is kind of numb and just overwhelmed. It’s still fresh.
“It’s difficult to comprehend.”
Meanwhile, Chanelle Meredith has launched a Just Giving page for her best friend and children who she said has “lost everything” in the fire.
“Today my best friend lost everything, literally everything in a house fire. She took pride in her house and built it into her home,” she wrote on the crowdfunding page.
“The fire started in some bushes at the park bit at the end of her garden and spread so quickly to the house, as well as three other houses.
“The fence caught on fire and within minutes it had ignited the whole garden and canopy, it spread rapidly.”
She has asked local residents to donate toys, clothes and household items for the family. The Just Giving page has so far raised more than £2,700.
A sister of the affected mother said she was “absolutely heartbroken”.
In a social media post, she wrote: “My sister and her three children...have lost absolutely everything from a horrific fire which had started at the back park behind her garden and spread rapidly, engulfing the entire house and spreading to three more homes.
“They have nothing left. Any support would be amazing.”
Another resident claimed that a carer saved three people, including two elderly family members, from the blaze.
She wrote: “Heros come in all shapes and sizes but yesturday there was one who went beyond. Her name was Alex. She is a carer on her way home, on her own saved three people from a fire in Crayford.
“Two elderly family members... and a disabled person. If it wasnt for her they wouldn’t be here today.”
London Fire Brigade said there were no reports of injuries, and a number of residents had evacuated before firefighters arrived.
Crews cooled and removed two gas cylinders as a precaution, as some cylinders can explode when exposed to heat.
The Brigade was called just before 5.30pm and the fire was under control just before 8pm.
