Houses ‘lit up by New Year’s fireworks’ in Hull Beach gutted by fire

A mother has told of her family’s grief after their home was destroyed by a fire believed to have been caused by stray fireworks on New Year’s Day.

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue were called to a semi-detached house in Hallgate, Holbeach, just after midnight on Wednesday.

The house was destroyed, with three occupants, including a 10-year-old girl, climbing out of a window to escape the flames, while a neighboring property was also damaged.

Caroline Ward said: “We’ve got a car and the clothes we were standing in. Everything else is gone. It’s heartbreaking that we’ve lost the furniture, but it’s the baby pictures, the first drawings and Certificates are the worst.”

Mrs Ward said the family, who had lived in the property for 20 years, were celebrating New Year’s Eve and had seen “fireworks from their back bedroom window” just before going to bed. Thought he saw the garden shed “smoking”. .

He said the family was trapped inside the house and had to “climb out the front window” in their pajamas to escape.

She added: “My husband went first, then my daughter. I got my daughter out and then I got out. I was knocking on my neighbours’ doors again, trying to get them out. Happy. Luckily they weren’t there.”

Neighbor Jayden Nightingale, whose adjoining property suffered first-floor and roof damage, said he was celebrating in Sheffield when he and his partner were alerted to the fire by their digital doorbell.

“I answered it and there were people going, ‘Get out of your house, your house is on fire’,” she said.

“Suddenly, I saw all the smoke and then the cameras went off, the power went out and I was sitting in a hotel room thinking that my house is on fire.

“I was honestly devastated. My life basically just burned down and there was nothing I could do about it.”

In a statement, the fire service said: “Investigations are ongoing to determine the cause of the fire. Preliminary findings suggest the fire may have been caused by fireworks.”

Five crews brought the fire under control.

Two online fundraisers, which have each raised thousands of pounds, told how both families “lost everything” they owned.

An online appeal to help Mrs Ward’s family raised more than £6,500 in less than a day. Appealing for donations, it said the 10-year-old girl had “lost everything she got for Christmas (imagine as a child)”.

Another fundraising page raised more than £3,000 for Mr Nightingale.

“All I have is everything I took with me, which was my car, what I’m wearing now, my clothes I wore at night and my phone and wallet. Everything else is gone. done,” said Mr. Nightingale.

“I had all my nursery books and my school books, I kept them in my house. I had my grandfather’s ashes in a marble necklace – that would be gone.”