7:30am Friday 10th September 2010
By Matthew Edwards
A WOMAN whose house was destroyed by fire has said she wouldn’t have made it out alive if she had been in the property at the time.
But despite the terrible situation, friends and neighbours have rallied round to help, collecting £200 for the family and also securing donations of furniture and electrical equipment.
Sarah Daniels, 42, of The Circle, Pinehurst, was having dinner at a friend’s house when the fire broke out.
“My son called me to say the house was on fire. By the time I got there the engines were already outside,” she said.
“Normally I would have been upstairs asleep and I wouldn’t have made it out because the stairlift I use was burnt in the fire.
“I was absolutely devastated. I want to go back home.”
Two of the family dogs who were still in the house died in the fire but the fire brigade did manage to save another two other dogs.
Two rabbits who were in the back garden were found safe and well and are being cared for by the neighbourhood warden team.
Sandy Hawkins, manager of the One-Stop shop in The Circle, started the collection for the family and also set up a Facebook group where donations, from washer-dryers to sofas, have flooded in.
“I know Sarah from coming in the shop and her son is friends with mine,” she said.
“She’s a lovely woman. I just wanted to get a bit of money together to help them. It’s heart-wrenching.
“Everyone goes on Facebook, so I was hoping people would donate. Pinehurst has got a bad reputation but when something bad happens people do pull together, whether they know them or not.”
Sarah had been staying at friend Helen Lawson’s house, along with her 11-year-old daughter Becky, while her son, Sam, 17, and the two dogs stayed with Sandy.
“The support from everyone has been amazing. It’s very overwhelming, I never expected any of it,” said Sarah, who suffers from asthma, liver disease and arthritis and needs a stairlift to get up and down stairs.
The family has now been moved into temporary accommodation, in Whitehead Street and could be there for several months while their home is being fixed. Sandy is still collecting money for the family and anyone wanting to donate should contact her on 07825 777 942.
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