A Northumberland woman has been left heartbroken after an inferno ripped through her Newsham stable, claiming the lives of the livestock trapped inside as it was burned to the ground.
Sharmaine Brown was alerted to the blaze by residents near to her Laverock Hall Road premises, as it went up in flames in the early hours of Sunday morning (26 June).
Thankfully, her two horses were grazing in a field nearby when the incident took place, but her livestock including chickens, turkeys, pigeons and ducks perished.
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Speaking to Chronicle Live about the harrowing experience, Sharmaine, said: "We weren't aware of anything until about 7 o'clock on Sunday morning - my husband woke up and he had a message from one of his friends to say that there had been a fire at the stables.
"I was staying at my friend's at the time and he rang me. I had missed calls and messages off local residents.
"It's complete devastation, it's five stables, one shed, and about 30 to 40 birds just gone. Pigeons, ducks, chickens, turkeys.
"Luckily the horses were on the field and somehow they're unaffected."
After piecing together CCTV footage from nearby, Sharmaine thinks the blaze began at around 2.30am in the morning, with police and fire services being called shortly afterwards.
The cause of the fire remains unknown, however, Northumbria Police are treating it as an instance of suspected arson.
A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: “An investigation has been launched following a fire at a stables off Laverock Hall Road, Newsham, in the early hours of June 26.
“Officers are treating the blaze as suspected arson. Enquiries are ongoing to trace those responsible."
Sharmaine was even more shocked to hear the news that police believe it is an arson - they have no qualms or troubles with anyone within the local area according to her.
She added: "This person is unknown to us. We've got absolutely zero idea why anybody would do this. We've been there four years and we've made a point of keeping the residents happy and not falling out with anybody or anything like that.
"I'm at a loss as to why anyone would do it. We're just absolutely devastated.
"All of those animals, they're our pets. People who don't keep animals, you feel like they don't understand. That's our hobby, that's what we do - they're not there to make money out of them or anything, we just like having them.
"Just absolutely gutted."
The strength of community support has shone through since the incident.
Sharmaine continued: "I'm absolutely overwhelmed. We've had somebody get in touch offering me corrugated plastic roof panels, I've had somebody else say that he can get any amount of fencing panels. I've had other people offering to put the horses up if we need them to for a few weeks.
"The offers have just been unreal and you do really appreciate it.
"When the fire broke out, there was a man and a woman who live nearby who actually broke into my yard to try and get the animals out the stables. The flames at that point were actually higher than a house.
"I went to see her and I was like 'are you mad to do that?'"
Sharmaine's friend's daughter Kaylee has also set up a GoFundMe page to raise vital funding for the repairs and rebuilds which will need to take place. At the time of writing, the fundraiser sits at £385..
You can find out more about Sharmaine's fundraiser, here.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police via the ‘Tell Us Something’ page of Northumbria Police's official website or by calling 101 quoting log NP-20220626-0908.
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