A Wembley family of seven says a fire destroyed its home, leaving the household dependent on temporary accommodation and launching a fundraising appeal to rebuild.
The blaze broke out at a semi-detached house on Eagle Road, Wembley, after 6pm on 1 November. The London Fire Brigade received its first of nine calls at 6.26pm, and six fire engines and around 40 firefighters attended. Crews used a 32-metre turntable ladder to tackle the flames from above, and the fire was out by 8.24pm.
The fire destroyed the first floor and roof of the house, the brigade said. No injuries have been reported, and the cause remains under investigation.
The fundraising appeal says the household includes two adults, five children and a six-month-old kitten. It says the family has no permanent home and is using emergency temporary accommodation, and that everything they owned was lost in the fire, including clothes, belongings and memories.
The family had no home insurance, the appeal says, and wants to raise £300,000 to clear the damage and rebuild. Money raised would be used to make the property safe, warm and weathertight for winter, and to provide beds and a place for the children to live.
The appeal says the family is relying on help from other people as it looks for a place where the children can sleep, play and feel secure, with the children asking when they can return and where their belongings are.
For a family with five children, the loss of a home days before winter is especially stark: temporary accommodation solves the immediate night, but not the months of rebuilding, replacing school uniforms, bedding and everyday essentials, or the wait for an investigation into how the fire started. That is what the appeal is trying to cover — not just bricks and a roof, but a home the children can return to.
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