By Sarah Curran
A COMBER mother has issued a heartfelt warning to other home owners after a fire in her tumble dryer caused major damage to her home.
Lyn Gillespie’s kitchen was destroyed in the Friday afternoon blaze, and although no-one was injured in the fire, she says the situation could have been much worse had the fire occurred at night when they were asleep.
The mother of three young daughters, who has been forced to move home until repairs can be carried out, has now branded tumble dryers as a ‘death trap’ and warned people not to use them at night or if they are away from the house.
The 46 year-old had been enjoying a visit from her sister at her Cherryvalley Crescent home when they heard a popping noise coming from the kitchen that afternoon.
“At first we thought the electric had went out but it hadn’t, so we went into the kitchen and seen smoke coming out from the tumble dryer,” Lyn recalled.
Lyn’s sister, June Girvan-Shaw, pulled the tumble dryer out, with the intention of taking it outdoors but noticed orange flames coming from the machine.
“We rang the Fire Brigade and they told us to go outside and wait,” she added.
As they waited for the emergency services to arrive, the fire took hold of Lyn’s kitchen, destroying everything in its path, including a new washing machine, cooker and fridge/freezer she had recently purchased.
The flames continued up the back of Lyn’s house and destroyed the cattery she had built for her six felines.
“There were still cats in the house at the time,” Lynn continued, adding that two of her cats had escaped before the worst of it.
Firefighters were able to rescue three more cats and thanks to the heroic efforts of her neighbour, John Gibson, the final cat was rescued.
While all the cats were saved from the flames, unfortunately one of them has fled in fear following the incident and it is hoped that she will return now things have calmed down.
Firefighters were able to put the fire out, however the house and its contents have been left completely smoke damaged.
“I didn’t realise how bad it was until the following days,” Lyn continued, noting how mattresses, furnishings, clothes and more were totally ruined by smoke damage.
With two older children and a ten year-old, Lyn said she was grateful to her sister for taking them all in ‘out of the goodness of her heart’ and taking steps with the Housing Executive to find them somewhere new to live.
Lyn has now been allocated a new home a short distance away.
The Comber mother did not have contents insurance, having cancelled it as the cost of living crisis started to bite. She hopes her story will offer a stark warning of the importance of having such insurance.
She also warned against the use of tumble dryers. She said: “Tumble dryers are a death trap. I advise anyone who has one to not go out of their house or go to bed and leave it on overnight because the devastation it causes is heartbreaking.”
“This happened literally in the space of five minutes and my whole house was in flames,” she added.
Lyn thanked everyone who helped out last week, paying special tribute to her sister and her neighbour for his heroic efforts. Lyn also thanked Matt from Ballygowan Play n Stray doggy day care for taking care of their family dog while she gets sorted with her new accommodation.
