‘I saw my house burning with memories of my late daughter’

A mother has told how she watched her house burn – with memories of her late daughter.

Tricia Hayes, 64, said it was “unbearable” to see her dream home go up in smoke.

Among the items lost in the fire were her daughter Steph’s art projects, school jotters and poetry – and a lock of her hair.

“She had beautiful dark brown hair, which was long, sleek and thick,” Tricia told BBC Scotland news.

“When she was younger and had her hair cut, I kept her hair locked.

“Losing Steph is a nightmare and losing this lock of hair, which was part of her, has been devastating.”

Steph Wright, 43, died in December 2022.

Tricia, from Trenton in East Lothian, said her daughter was very outgoing and had a lot of laughter.

Some of her clothes survived the fire but all of Steph’s school artwork was destroyed, including models made from toilet roll tubes.

Tricia also lost the poems that Steph had written as a child.

“She was always a very individual little girl. She had these little shoes and she went to school in them every day.

“The teacher was telling her to take them off and she didn’t want to, so she wrote a poem about it.

“I’m trying to remember it because it was destroyed in the fire. I only remember the last line which was ‘I’ll never take them off’.”

Tricia, originally from near Manchester, moved to East Lothian as her other daughter Stacey Hayes lived in nearby Edinburgh.

He bought a three-bedroom timber-framed house in Trenton for £170,000 almost a year ago.

“It was my dream house and I had just decorated it because I was planning to have roommates,” she said.

The fire broke out on Saturday, November 23.

Tricia was in bed unaware that fire had engulfed her home when a neighbor who saw the flames raised the alarm.

The woman, who lives across the street, rushes in in her dressing gown and knocks on the door to get Tricia’s attention.

“When I opened the door she was screaming: ‘Come out, come out’,” Tricia said.

“He only had slippers on and it was icy and snowy.

“I didn’t know what was happening and then I was running across the road in my pajamas with my bare feet through the snow.

“Then I stood in her kitchen in shock and horror to see my house burning. I was bawling my eyes out.”

Tricia called her neighbor a hero.

He believes the fire may have started due to an electrical fault in his kitchen as that is where his neighbor saw the flames.

Tricia has been staying with a friend since the fire.

He later discovered that he did not have insurance after making a mistake while renewing the policy. Rebuilding the house will cost £80,000.

Stacey, 42, has set up a fundraising page for her mum, and said she was devastated by the fire.

“When I think about what it will cost to change her house, I think about how happy I am that my mom is okay.”

“She was so happy in this house, she finally found a place where she felt really comfortable. She finally found peace and security in a place where she wanted to be.

“Then to literally see it go up in smoke in front of him after he finally thought things were looking up for the family is devastating.”

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