A young family have been left devastated after 'losing everything' when a fire ripped through their home in Newton Heath. Joanne McEwan, 27, and her two daughters were left with only the clothes they were wearing following the blaze at their home in Mitchell Street on Tuesday morning (June 7).
Joanne had not long since left to take her two-year-old daughter, Louise, to nursery when the fire broke out in her kitchen. She then visited her mother's house with her eldest daughter, Isabella, five, where she received a phone call from a neighbour to say her house was ablaze.
"I didn't believe them at first," Joanne said. "I heard shouting in the background and then thought it must be real. I just ran and get in my mum's car and drove straight to my house."
Joanne arrived on her street to find it taped off by police while three fire engines were parked outside her home. "My first thought was for my two dogs and cat," she said.
"The fire brigade brought my dogs out and they went back in. My cat was under my kids' bed. They brought her out and had to do CPR on her in the road."
Joanne says she and her daughters have 'lost everything' in the blaze, including sentimental jewellery and money she had saved for an upcoming family holiday.
"The only things we have are the clothes we had on that day," she explained. "Everything is gone.
"We were going on holiday next month and had holiday money in the cupboard. That's completely melted.
"I was only taking my kids to Wales for four days in a caravan. I've lost all the holiday clothes as well. I had my daughters' memory boxes from when they were born but everything has just gone."
However, Joanne says the outcome could have been even worse had she and Isabella returned home after dropping Louise at nursery. "I was going to go straight home because Isabella isn't well," she explained.
"We were going to go straight home and cuddle up on the sofa and have a nap. I don't even want to think about what would have happened."
The extent of the damage to the family's home is such that it has been left uninhabitable. The cause of the fire is being investigated by Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service.
Although the family's pets were rescued by firefighters, their cat Luca remains seriously unwell. Following the fire, neighbours and family have rallied to support the family by buying clothes and food for them.
Meanwhile, Joanne's colleagues at McDonald's in Failsworth have set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for the family. Joanne described the response as 'brilliant', but said she worried about where she and her girls were going to live in the long-term.
Loves ones have arranged for Joanne and her girls to stay in an apartment following their traumatic experience. However, Joanne says they can only afford to remain there until Tuesday.
She says she has been told she could return to her home later this month once the damage has been repaired, although she is reluctant to do so. "I don't want to go back to that house," she explained.
"I've not slept since the fire. I'm barely eating because I'm constantly thinking about where I'm going to go. I've literally got nothing.
"My two-year-old doesn't really know what is going on but she gets really upset when she sees me crying. I've got to try and support them while supporting myself and finding a house. My two girls and waking up to those smiles is what is getting me through this."
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service said: “Just after 9:30am on Tuesday 7 June we were called to reports of a fire at a house on Mitchell Street, Newton Heath. Three fire engines from Manchester Central, Philips Park and Gorton fire stations were quickly mobilised to the scene.
“The fire involved the kitchen of an end-terrace property. Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus tackled the blaze using a hose reel and a positive pressure ventilation fan, and rescued two dogs and a cat from the property. Crews made the area safe and were in attendance for around two hours.”
