14 November 2023 , 08:18
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A mum and her three sons have been left sleeping on the floor of one cramped room after their home was destroyed by fire.
Kandi Simpson, 35, was decorating her Christmas tree at her home in Oxton around 7.30pm on Monday, November 6, when she heard a strange noise from the hallway. She found the lower staircase ablaze and quickly alerted her three sons, Laurence, 18, Mason, 14, and Miles, 9, to evacuate the house.
While Kandi, Laurence and Miles managed to escape, Mason was trapped upstairs by the fire. He had to jump from his bedroom window onto a low roof and then onto a table in the garden below.
The family's two dogs, Bella and Bear, are still living in the smoke-damaged house (No credit)Recalling her son's terrifying escape, Kandi told the Echo: "My 14-year-old son was upstairs on his own when it happened and I was screaming at him to get out. He had to get out of the bedroom window on his own. Me and my sons were in the back garden with my dogs. Two fire engines came out and they had to smash the front door glass to get in."
The hospital worker, from Birkenhead in Merseyside, said that she and her sons had since been put up in an AirBnb by the local council after their house was left severely damaged by the fire. But the temporary home had no kitchen, so they are now staying with Kandi's mum.
Holiday family return to find everything they own - even cat - destroyed in fire
She said: "I've been at my mum's ever since but my mum has my brother to look after, who is 29 and disabled, and my 21 year old brother is living here too. I'm sleeping on the floor in the living room and my sons are on the couch. Everything (at home) is smoke damaged and black. I've tried to save bits of clothes. The fire alarms didn't go off; I just saw the flames and the house just went black with smoke. I didn't even have the chance to think about shutting the doors - if I shut the doors, I could've saved some things.
"My son who is nine is obsessed with Liverpool FC and he had the bed and rug, and all of that is gone. He keeps asking me if his toys are OK. I've had to cancel shifts because all my work clothes stink of smoke. There's no electrics in the house, heating or hot water. It's just a nightmare." She's also worried about her two dogs, Bella and Bear, who are still living in the smoke-damaged house.
Her cousin, Charlotte Jebb, has now started an online fundraiser to help them out. Kandi said: "As a mum you should be able to make sure your kids are OK and housed, clothes and fed. That night we were getting prepared for Christmas, we were just laughing, putting the tree up, we'd had tea and the heating was on. It was so nice. Now it could take weeks or months to find a house.
"They need somewhere to live, even if they have no toys or nothing for Christmas. Even if we're on blow up beds, at least we'll be in the same house and we'll be together. My cousin was determined to set up a GoFundMe, but I feel like it's begging. We have to carry on. But living in my mum's living room is not ideal at all and it's not fair on my mum or my brother. We have no space and nowhere else to go."
A spokesperson from Merseyside Fire and Rescue said: "We were alerted to an incident on Carlton Road, Oxton, on the evening of Monday, November 6. This was a two-storey terraced property involved in fire. The origin of the fire was located to the hallway from an electric bike. The fire was extinguished using one high pressure hose reel jet. Two firefighters wearing breathing apparatus (BA) were deployed and the property was ventilated using a PPV fan.
"Crews removed lithium-ion battery cells and the electric bike to outside the premises. The electrics to the house were isolated and an external handover was completed for the occupants house. The occupants were advised to have the electrics checked by a qualified engineer. Home fire safety checks were carried out to the property affected and those adjacent to the house affected. Crews left the scene at 8.13pm."
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