'We've lost absolutely everything': London mother tells of devastation over house fire 'caused by e-scooter'

A family-of-three near stateless aft a blaze tore done their location of 25 years said they person mislaid “absolutely everything” - but are grateful “we person our lives”.

The occurrence broke retired astatine astir 10.30am connected Monday connected Barlow Road successful West Hampstead, successful the borough of Camden.

Thankfully, Bernadette, 43, and her 2 children, Tyrone, 20, and Lashana, 16, were retired of the location erstwhile the occurrence started.

But their beloved canine Tuffy, who was a companion to Lashana, was sadly killed successful the blaze.

London Fire Brigade said the incidental was caused by an e-scooter artillery which had burst into flames portion it had been near connected charge. It took 8 occurrence engines and astir 60 firefighters to enactment retired the fire.

Bernadette said she and her girl person been surviving with a household person and are successful interaction with Camden Council to find impermanent accommodation.

“We are okay, we person seen amended days. We person mislaid perfectly everything, but we person our lives,” she told the Standard.

“My girl is precise upset, she’s mislaid her canine and her companion. We are trying to get backmost to mean arsenic champion we can. My girl has gone backmost to assemblage today.

“We are not 100 per cent definite connected what happened, but the location went up similar a match.”

Bernadette said they had mislaid a batch of valuables and sentimental items including watches, rings, schoolhouse certificates and teddies.

But 1 of her biggest worries was for her daughter, who had mislaid her chamber and idiosyncratic abstraction conscionable earlier her GCSEs.

“Lashana is doing GCSE creation and plan successful college, truthful each her sketches were successful the country and it doesn’t look thing similar a country anymore,” she said.

“She finds it precise hard to enactment successful different peoples homes. She was asking maine ‘when are we going’ this greeting but I said I don’t cognize erstwhile that volition be.

“It keeps coming backmost to her, everything she’s mislaid — her trainers, her driving licence, her ID, but I support reminding her that she has her life.

“I privation to marque her consciousness a spot much comfortable.”

A person has acceptable up a GoFundMe leafage for the family, with implicit £1,100 raised truthful far.

Recalling the incident, Bernadette said: “It was melodramatic and precise upsetting. Bringing my canine retired and trying to resuscitate her, that stuck successful my head.

“It was a truly traumatic experience. She was a rescue canine and she was precise tense and I was conscionable imagining what that must’ve been similar for her.”

Just 16 hours aft occurrence broke retired successful Bernadette’s home, a artillery battalion connected a second-hand converted e-bike astatine a location connected Bridlepath Way successful Feltham caught alight.

Six occurrence engines and astir 40 firefighters were dispatched to the scene, but by the clip they arrived, the occurrence had already dispersed crossed astir of the property.

Fire officials accidental e-bikes and e-scooters are becoming 1 of the capital’s fastest-growing occurrence risks, with 171 incidents reported past twelvemonth — 1 each different time connected average.

Bernadette said: “Myself and my girl had an e-scooter. I lone bought it 3 months ago. It’s not old, truthful if it is that past it was a faulty merchandise that I was sold.

“It’s virtually a bomb. If they are selling these things for £40 and radical are going location and plugging them successful and they’re doing that, it’s conscionable madness.

“In the shops they don’t springiness you overmuch information. They conscionable archer you to deterioration a helmet and to beryllium safe, they don’t springiness you immoderate accusation connected however to complaint them.”

Bernadette believes e-scooters should not beryllium charged wrong the location and admitted she would ne'er get different one.

“I bought the e-scooter for our intelligence health, but I ne'er would person brought the scooter into my location if I had known.

“I volition ne'er get different one, it has traumatised me.”

Bernadette’s step-father Mike said the occurrence had “massively effected the family”.

“They’ve mislaid everything. they’re conscionable wholly shaken up. Bernadette is holding unneurotic precise well.

“The canine had been with them for 8 years, ever since Lashana was young,” helium added.

“It’s conscionable implicit devastation.”