Good Samaritans help man spending Christmas in car park after fire wrecked home

24 December 2023 , 10:51

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Tom, Missy, Marley and Sifa have been helped out by local residents (Image: Dave Johnston)

A man whose house burned down while he was taking a holiday in Scotland has found that the spirit of the season is alive and well after a community gave him hope.

Tom Crump, 35, travelled to Scotland with his three dogs last month but has been left homeless after police from his home town in Derbyshire called to say his house had been destroyed in a fire. He was all set to return but then he was struck with further bad luck as his truck broke down.

But he found that the spirit of goodwill was still alive after the residents in the village of Doune in Stirlingshire took him to their hearts and made sure he and his three dogs, Missy, Marley and Sifa, wouldn't be having a bleak Christmas. They have given him heaters, allowed him to shower and made sure he and his hounds are well fed.

Tom has found that the spirit of Christmas is alive and well in Doune (Dave Johnston)

According to the Sunday Mail, Tom, a tree surgeon by profession, said: "The locals have been absolutely amazing, bringing me heaters, food, picking up my washing, bringing the dogs food and even letting me use their shower. I've been walking people's dogs for money and I'm contacting all tree surgeon companies to see if I can get work.

Tom’s two-bed terraced house suffered so much damage in the blaze, caused by an electrical fire, that the building has been left with structural damage and is deemed unsafe, and he added: "I’ve lost everything, all my possessions, the value in the property and all the improvements I had made which I had spent around £45,000 of the inheritance my dad had left me."

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He had originally planned to return home after the fire but his truck then broke down and he was left stranded. The tree surgeon was towed by a friendly local from Callander, in Stirlingshire, to a car park in Doune. However, he is unable to return to his home – which he bought for £55,000 in 2017 – and is now negotiating with his insurance company.

Tom said: "Last month, we travelled up to Loch Lomond for a week and then spent time in Aviemore. It was just lovely to get away. The police called and told me an electrical fire had started at my home at around 3am. It has demolished the house and I can’t bring myself to look at any pictures of what’s left. It really meant a lot to me when I bought the house as I’d been homeless a few times as a child and I really thought this was going to be me getting somewhere.

"I was stuck in Callander and a local garage tried to help me out but said I’d be better coming to Doune for a specialist garage that would have the part I need. A local towed me here and I picked this spot because it’s just lovely. I’m away so haven’t been working so I’ve not money for repairs. So I’ve been sleeping and living in the truck along with the dogs. We all just pile in together.”

Tom said he’s has been so touched by the generosity of the Scots he has met he now has no plans to return home. Stirling Council helped him with accommodation for four days but due to him having no local links cannot do more for him. He has now decided to stay and says his love for his dogs has kept him going through his recent dark days.

One local said: “Tom is a really lovely guy who has had a turn of bad luck but people who live nearby have been helping him out where we can.”

Asked about the fire at Tom’s house, a spokesperson for Derbyshire Police said: "An investigation into the cause of the fire found that it was accidental and the file was closed," while his local fire service said: "A joint investigation determined the most probable of the fire to be accidental due to an unspecified electrical fault."

Jennifer Hyland