A young family have been left homeless after a fire gutted their Greater Manchester home and killed all three of their pet dogs. Chelsea Stewart and her two sons managed to escape the blaze as it tore through their house in the early hours of April 25. The cause was found to be a children’s Segway toy left charging in the kitchen.
The inferno devastated their council-owned home ‘within 10 minutes’, destroying everything in its path. Tragically, their beloved pet dogs Holly, Peach and Luna did not make it out alive.
The property, on Arrow Street, Leigh, is now inhabitable. Chelsea is currently staying at her mother’s address along with her sons Harrison, 10, and Mikey, five. She was not insured and fears she may never be able to return to her home.
“I’ve never seen anything like what happened – it was so fast and caused so much damage,” the 28-year-old said. “People tell you it can happen but you never expect it to happen to you.
“The council property homeless team got in touch on Monday morning to see if I had somewhere to stay. I’ve not heard back from them since; I’ve been trying to get in touch with them to see what the next steps are.
“I’m borrowing clothes off family members. I’m really overwhelmed, I can’t really think – people are asking what I need and things like that, but I can’t think of what we need.”
The blaze came just one day after Mikey’s fifth birthday, meaning all his gifts have been destroyed. Speaking to the Manchester Evening News , Chelsea recalled the moment she woke to find smoke filling her home.
“In the early hours of the morning I was woken by what sounded like someone trying to break into my house,” she said. “There was loads of banging. I didn’t know what was going on.
“I got up to see what was happening and as I got to the top of the stairs, fire alarms started going off. I realised smoke was coming through and I ran to see what was the cause.
“The Segway was on charge in the kitchen. When I got to the kitchen, I opened the back door to get smoke out and within not even a minute I turned around and there were flames coming off it.
“I ran to the front and opened the door thinking of the smoke again. I ran upstairs and got the kids out of bed, they were literally just in their boxers, no socks or anything.”
“I said ‘Get up, get out of the house’ and called 999. Within 10 minutes they were there. The fire damage is downstairs in the property, there’s literally no kitchen left.
“The living room is destroyed. We were minutes from the living room ceiling coming through. There’s smoke damage in the rest of the house – the rest of the house has gone. The windows and doors have had to be boarded up; it doesn’t look like we can go back there.
“All our possessions have been destroyed. My bedroom was really bad. I’ve lost my independence in the space of 20 minutes.
Tragically, the dogs panicked and ran upstairs into the smoke. A neighbour tried to save them but it was already too late.
“It’s so surreal,” Chelsea continued. “It’s literally been days and I still can’t come to terms with it. The kids were ringing before I got home asking how the dogs were. It’s just heartbreaking.”
In a statement, a spokesman for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) said: “At 5:50am on 25 April 2022 fire engines from Leigh, Atherton and Hindley, attended a fire involving a mid-terraced property on Arrow Street, Leigh.
“Fire fighters used two hose reels, one breathing apparatus, a positive pressure ventilation fan and salvage equipment to extinguish the fire. One casualty was assessed by North West Ambulance Service as a precaution. Crews were in attendance for one hour and forty minutes.”
Jo Willmott, assistant director for provider management and market development at Wigan Council, added: “Our teams have been providing support to the family following the fire. They initially decided to stay with family members and a Homeless Assessment was completed with them that day. The allocated Homeless Officer has since been in touch to update them on the next steps.”
A fundraiser has since been set up to help Chelsea and her family rebuild their lives. So far it has raised almost £3,000. Anyone interested in donating can follow the link by clicking here .
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