Maxton Court is one of the first streets you'll pass when you enter Lansbury Park estate in Caerphilly. As you walk to the top of the street you'll see a large patch of grass where children play and fill the street with sounds of joy.
But for older residents in the community the greenery represents one of the most tragic events that took place in the town's history. It was at that spot 33 years ago that a devastating flat fire claimed the lives of two babies and the 20-year-old local man who tried his best to save them. A fierce campaign following the incident, which happened on December 29, 1989, finally saw the last of the 16 maisonettes on the land taken down in February 2000.
As the community prepares for a memorial to be erected on the site later this year the families of those who died have spoken out about the incident for the first time in decades. They hope it will keep the memories of their loved ones alive.
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Tania Lewis was just 20 years old when her two babies, two-year-old Geraint and nine-month-old Jade, died in the blaze. Describing them she said: "Geraint was quiet and funny. He was ruined by my dad so he was very much a bampy's boy. Jade was a mummy's girl who had a lot of character. She was stubborn and determined – apparently exactly the same way I was when I was her age."
Now 53, Tania said she is still haunted by nightmares of the fire she managed to escape but said she was lucky to have the support of family and friends in the aftermath. Reliving the day that changed her life forever she said: "I put the kids to bed as normal and was drinking Cherryade pop while I was busy ironing. Rumours circulated at the time that I was intoxicated and this was not the case.
"I went up and downstairs for a bit with the clothes. I did what I normally did and shut my door while I was putting mine away. I heard a noise and thought it might be the kids. Then I heard a bang, which I later found out was the boiler. I didn't even smell smoke. Then I opened my bedroom door and I got flung backwards and it was full of smoke. I was trying to get to the kids but the flames were coming towards my bedroom so I couldn't get to them."
At the time Tania lived next door to Brian Evans who was being visited by his best friend Darren Smith. The three had grown up together since primary school. Tania said she managed to smash her window before screaming for Brian in complete panic. Unbeknown to her at the time Darren and Brian both entered her flat to try and save her babies but Darren sadly died on the landing inside the flat.
"There was an aerial outside the window which I grabbed before I fell 20ft and landed on my bottom," Tania said. There was an ambulance strike at the time but firefighters arrived quickly because they were only in nearby Pontygwindy Road.
"After I fell I was on the floor and they had to move me because I was on the path right by the house. They didn't want to move me too much because I couldn't move and I was in shock. They moved me onto the grass and they [laid] Darren near me. I didn't know it was Darren at the time or that he had gone in. He was lying by the side of me for two hours and he was slightly out of my view and covered. It was freezing and the grass was wet because it was winter."
Next Tania said her mum and dad arrived at the scene while others gathered to see what was going on. She said despite the industrial action some sort of ambulance turned up to take her children, who were both still alive at the time, to the burns unit in Chepstow. She said: "My mum went in the ambulance to Chepstow with the kids and my dad followed. I had to wait on the ground for another two hours because of the strikes."
After the two hours passed Tania said some of her family members took her to the former Caerphilly and District Miners' Hospital. She said she was checked over but didn't stay as she wanted to get to her children in Chepstow. She said: "They cut all my clothes off me. I have some injuries now that were never fully seen to. In my left leg I have a gaping hole where my muscles split apart and I also have nerve damage. I had some tetanus jabs as I lost a few [nails] but I just couldn't stay there."
When Tania arrived in Chepstow she said she was interrogated by police officers who told her Darren had died. Doctors told her Geraint had 87% burns while Jade had 56% burns. She said doctors told her that Geraint would not make it but they believed Jade would survive and so she had reconstructive surgery.
"They lived five and six days," Tania said. "Geraint died on January 2 and Jade on January 3. We were all numb and in shock. Geraint died of 1A burns and 2B shock and Jade died around 11 hours later of 1A sepsis and 2B burns. I had to formally identify each of them."
Further adding to her trauma Tania said while her babies lay dying in hospital she discovered that someone had gone into her flat one night and stolen all her jewellery as well as the kids' money boxes. "It happened when we were at the hospital," she said. "It was boarded up as soon as possible by the council so they would have had to break in."
Following the incident Tania said she was not able to stay in Caerphilly because it was too difficult for her mentally. She said it wasn't acceptable to talk about feelings or mental health in her circles. She said: "Following it people would cross the road because they didn't know what to say to me. Back then mental health wasn't spoken about. A doctor at the time told me to pull myself together and that I could have more kids."
Tania moved away from Caerphilly before returning in 2013. She now lives with her 21-year-old son Ieuan. She said on a number of occasions she has woken him up in the middle of the night in panic.
Tania and her family are not the only ones dealing with the aftermath of the tragedy more than three decades on. Deborah John is Darren's younger sister. She was just 17 when her "best friend and protector" died. His death came just nine months before their mother died. Paying tribute to Darren, who was affectionately known as Smithy, she said: "Darren was a very cheeky and loveable rogue. He was always getting into trouble and then using his eyes to get out of it. He was my protector. He was my best friend and protected me as the only sister with four brothers. He would walk with me through Lansbury Park and make sure I was safe."
Describing the events from her family's perspective the now 51-year-old said: "My mam had a brain tumour for two years before Darren passed and she wasn't able to walk – family life was stressful at the time. When the fire had happened we were on our way home from a wedding and as we passed Lansbury Park our mum said: 'I hope my baby isn't in there'. She was referring to Darren as he was always there and we had family in the street.
"We took her home and I stayed with her. Then my father and brother Colin disappeared without telling me. They were gone for about two or three hours. I heard them coming in through the door with a doctor and then into my mother's bedroom. The doctor sedated my mother and then told her Darren had passed away. Mam was bad. The wail she made when she found out sticks with me.
"I was in my room listening knowing something was going on but didn't know exactly what. I was told the following day when all the press were outside the house. We couldn't get out of the house."
Deborah said Darren suffered from "really bad" chronic asthma, which meant he was affected terribly by the smoke when he entered the property. "He went straight up the stairs and straight to the landing where he was found," Deborah said. "He just went straight in regardless of his asthma – and that's Darren through and through.
"It was a huge shock for the family. Mum was seriously ill but she was still pushing us forward saying she wanted those flats to be taken down but then she would forget what she had said. She became bedridden and died nine months later. I was 17 when Darren died and 18 when my mother died." Deborah said Darren posthumously received a bravery award from the fire service as well as a Queen's gallantry award.
Elaine Forehead is a councillor for the local area as well as the cabinet member for social care at Caerphilly council. She saw the fire unfold with her father who was a councillor for the ward at the time. She said the incident had a profound impact on her and she remembers exactly what she was wearing that day down to her socks.
She said: "I went over there with my dad because he had a phone call saying there was a fire and that they were evacuating 16 families from the maisonettes. He went over there and I remember him standing there with a tear running down his face which frightened the life out of me because I had never seen him cry before. It's marked me for the rest of my life and I can't go into Lansbury Park without seeing it. Anyone who was around that night will never ever forget it. The aftermath was horrific because everybody was scared. We didn't know how the fire started." An inquest into the deaths found that it was either started by a Christmas tree or cigarettes. Some of the housing materials used at the time, including the sofa and ceiling tiles, were also not fire resistant, according to Tania.
Elaine said after the fire there was a sizeable campaign to knock down the flats including a protest group on the estate. However she said there were 16 families in each block so the council had to think carefully about where they would house them. "Eventually funding was granted and they came down, " Elaine said. "[Tania's] was the very last one which came down in February 2000 and I actually drove the bulldozer that pulled it down."
Elaine said she has tried for the last 20 years to get a memorial erected on the site of the old flats so that the children who currently play there can learn about their history. She said she hopes it will keep the memories of Jade, Geraint, and Darren alive as well as it being a means of thanking Brian for his bravery – whom she described as the "forgotten hero" –for his bravery.
A date for the memorial's unveiling has not yet been announced but work is set to start this year. It will include three trees to represent each life lost as well as a memorial plaque commemorating Darren which was previously kept at the old Lansbury Park GP surgery.
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