Devastating fire leaves family destitute

A KIMBERLEY North family has been left with nothing after their home went up in flames, apparently due to faulty wiring.

According to Demi Askin, their house is now uninhabitable after a fire broke out on September 20.

Askin said her mother had to go and stay with relatives after she was discharged from the hospital.

‘My mother was admitted to hospital on Wednesday morning after she hurt her foot. I was at work and my younger sister was at school. My boyfriend, who stays in the flat at the back of the house with me, had just returned from work when the incident occurred. There was luckily nobody inside the house at the time of the fire,” Askin said.

Her boyfriend, Keshley Jossie, said he had just returned from work when he heard the windows of the house explode.

“I came home at around 3pm and was in the flat. About half an hour later I heard the windows shatter. I jumped up and saw smoke coming out of the house. I ran around the house to open the gate for the people who were ready to assist in extinguishing the fire. Some had buckets of water with them,” Jossie said.

“We called the fire brigade and they were quickly on the scene. We could see that the fire started in Demi’s sister's room and spread to other parts of the house,” he said.

Askin said they will now have to rebuild their house as the structure cannot be occupied.

“The fire brigade indicated that an electrical fault could be the cause of the fire. The roof of the house was damaged and is unsafe and can collapse. We have lost all the furniture in the house. Even the food could not be salvaged.

“My sister, in whose room the fire started, has lost everything inside her room. My sister is in Grade 11 and she lost all her school books, school uniform and all her clothes. Fortunately she was visiting our mother in hospital at the time of the fire.

“We now depend on charity from friends and family to keep going.”