A devastated Scots family have 'lost everything' after a horror fire sparked from a tumble dryer tore through their home and killed their beloved cat.
Iain Clark, 33, and his wife Emma, 32, had to grab their children, aged six and one, and run after the blaze took hold at the property on Willowbank Rise in Dunfermline at around 7.45pm on Tuesday January 24 report the Record.
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The Lloyds TSB worker says he could smell burning coming from the tumble dryer before turning it off at the switch. The dad thought the problem was sorted, however just minutes later smoke began pummelling into the living room - and within five minutes the whole kitchen was alight.
Speaking to the Record, Iain said: "We are still in shock. We just feel numb and can't believe this has happened. It's the scariest thing that has ever happened to us.
"The most important this is we are okay but we've lost everything. All our appliances, our Sky Glass TV, our Nintendo Switch, most of our clothes - they're all gone.
"The kitchen is absolutely ruined and the living room is badly damaged. My baby's buggy is literally melted to the kitchen floor.
"We've also lost sentimental items like my wife's wedding dress. Most of these things can be replaced, but the biggest loss was our cat Oliver."
He sobbed: "We only had him for a year but he was in the family for years and he quickly became a member of the family. He was a big softy and he was so good with the kids. We are going to miss him more than anything else."
After the blaze broke out, Iain shouted at Emma to grab his step-daughter Ellie, six, and one-year-old son Daniel to get out. The dad only had time to run back into the kitchen to grab their dog before he sprinted outside in his pyjamas and bare feet.
Firefighters arrived within 10 minutes - but eight-year-old feline Oscar, who was sleeping upstairs, died from smoke inhalation.
Iain said: "The scariest thing was how quickly the fire took hold. I smelt the burning coming from the tumble dryer but it wasn't that bad so I thought it was sorted once I'd turned it off.
"Then within minutes the smoke alarm started going off and black smoke was coming from the kitchen into the living room.
"I went into the kitchen and saw huge flames coming from behind the tumble dryer and that's when I went into panic mode and shouted at my wife to get the kids out."
Iain says while fire crews battled the blaze their whole street rallied together and gave the family jumpers and shoes. Little Daniel was just in a nappy, so a neighbour brought out a blanket to wrap around the tot.
Thankfully the family have house insurance, but they are staying at Iain's dad's while the damage is assessed. A fundraiser page was quickly launched to help support them - and already reached its £1,000 target by Wednesday lunchtime.
Iain teared up as he added: "We have been totally overwhelmed by everyones kindness. We didn't know about the GoFundMe page until 2am.
"It was a massive shock that people were donating money, especially at this time of year with what everyone is going through."
To donate to the fundraiser to help support Iain and his family, click here.
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A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: "We were alerted at 8.30pm on Tuesday January 24 to reports of a dwelling fire at Willowbank Brae, Dunfermline.
"Operations Control mobilised two appliances to the scene and firefighters worked to extinguish a fire in the ground floor kitchen.
"Four casualties were passed into the care of the Scottish Ambulance Service and crews left the scene after making the area safe”.
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