House blaze mum thanks firefighters

9:18am Thursday 8th May 2008

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A MOTHER-OF-THREE today thanked all the people who helped her family when fire swept through the upstairs floor of their York home.

Alison Turpin, 35, her three children Nikki, 16, Chloe, 12, Shania, eight, and Nikki's fiancé, Daniel, 17, are in temporary accommodation, after the blaze swept through the first floor rooms of their City of York Council house, in Dane Avenue, Acomb.

The family, which was not in the property at the time of the blaze, praised the firefighters who dealt with the fire, which was caused by an electrical fault.

The family also extended its thanks to Westfield Primary Community School, which Shania attends, as well as Alison's employer, W Boyes & Co Ltd, in Goodramgate, York, and the family's relatives and friends, for rallying to help them in their hour of need.

The school supplied the family with, among other things, beds and linen for their temporary accommodation, while Alison's employer allowed her time off after the fire to sort things out.

Alison's sister looked after the family's dogs, and her mother cooked for the family, while her father collected her children from their after-school activities.

Alison said: "We all feel very lucky that we weren't in the house at the time of the fire.

"I think the little two would have been injured if they had been in the house at the time - the fire started in Chloe and Shania's bedroom.

"We have lost a lot of possessions in the fire - the little two have got nothing left at all.

"Everything is smoke damaged or water damaged."

Mark Barnett, head teacher at Westfield Primary Community School, said: "Our school home support worker Carol Ashby and one of the children's class teachers Katie Furnival arranged beds, sheets, a TV, a food parcel - you name it.

"The local community responded really well. The school home support service gave some money straight away to the family for immediate needs."

Alison said the smoke alarm in the house did not alert anyone to the fire because it had been disabled by the electrical fault.

She said: "If the fire had happened at night we wouldn't have been alerted - because the smoke alarm wouldn't have worked."

However, North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service said smoke alarms in the property were activated by the fire.