2 weeks Ago
An appeal has been launched after a Newark family have lost everything in a devastating house fire. Jessica and Matt Baines, and their daughter Amelia-Rose, 7, have been left homeless after the fire on Bank Holiday Monday which has seen them lose their home and all of their possessions. Thankfully, the family was out of the house at the time meeting Matt’s parents.
However due to the damage, they have had to be rehomed. Matt said: “We’re getting there, but we’ve got a million and one things to to sort out and it’s a very stressful time.” Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue crews from Newark, Edwinstowe, and Blidworth were called to Walker Close in the town at 12:13pm.
A spokesman for the fire service said that the initial call to the joint control room was from a neighbour, stating that his property was filling up with smoke – he then checked next door and saw that that property was also heavily smoke logged. Firefighters extinguished the fire, which was in the living room of the property and was said to be caused by an electrical fault in the light for Amelia-Rose’s pet bearded dragon, called Stitch. A Watch Manager gave CPR to the family’s pet rabbit, Coco, and used a pet-sized oxygen therapy mask, however unfortunately both Coco and Stitch died.
Matt said that little Amelia-Rose has been “traumatised” by the incident, especially the loss of her pets, and keeps asking when they can go home and he has had to explain to her that they probably can’t. “We don’t think she fully understands what’s happened, which is probably lucky, but it’s been such a challenge.” Jessica and Matt have only been married for two months and both have health issues, as Matt has cerebral palsy and Jessica was hospitalised on Tuesday April 15 due to cerebrospinal fluid, and was only discharged on Saturday.
The family are in need of essential items that they can use now, including clothing for all three of them, and also new furniture, household items, toys for Amelia-Rose, and everything else a home needs to start again. Lynzay Parker, Jessica’s sister, has launched a JustGiving crowdfunding page at www.justgiving.
com/crowdfunding/lynzay-parker?utm_medium=CR&utm_source=CL She said: “They are trying to keep their spirits up for Amelia but she has been hit really hard with it. “We never thought this would happen.” The family are currently living at Matt’s parent’s house, which he said “isn’t ideal” as his mum works form home and they are hoping that Newark and Sherwood District Council can help with temporary accommodation until their landlord is able to Matt added: “We’re so grateful for all the help we’ve received so far and we’d like to thank everyone who has supported us — every little helps.
” Studio 29, Amelia-Rose’s performing arts academy, has also launched a fundraising pyjama week at the school next week to help them further. Principal Christina Riley said that the teachers at the studio had put their heads together to figure out how they could help the family, and came up with the idea of holding classes wit students wearing pyjamas and making a donation either in cash or via the online page. “We can see how the community are coming together to help support the family and it’s just devastating,” Christina said, “They’ve already been through such a lot and we’re hoping that every little helps and we can raise as much money as we can for them and support them at this time.
” Anyone wishing to help the Baines family can do so by messaging the JustGiving page, which has so far raised over £500 towards the family’s cause, emailing Christina at [email protected] or messaging Lynzay on Facebook directly.
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