Pregnant mum-of-two from Rishton homeless after fire rips through house

Shannon Hoyle and her two children, aged five and four, managed to escape the blaze, which broke out around 4pm on Friday, but were incredibly lucky they weren't injured or worse, as none of the smoke alarms in her house were working at the time.

The fire ripped through Shannon Hoyle's kitchen, destroying the whole house

Describing the events of Friday afternoon, the 23-year-old, from Rishton, said: "I was on the settee feeding my niece, who I was looking after that day, and my little girl came into the living room and said 'mummy the fridge is on fire'.

"I jumped up and ran through the living room to the kitchen. It was horrible.

"I was screaming and then the kids were screaming. My body went into shock, it was so scary."

The fire ripped through Shannon Hoyle's kitchen, destroying the whole house

Luckily, Shannon was able to get herself and the children to safety and call the fire brigade, but her house was destroyed.

She said: "Everything was destroyed. The entire house is smoke damaged, the kitchen is a wreck, and we'll need somewhere to stay for at least 12 months as it's going to take that long to fix everything.

"None of the smoke alarms went off. The fire service said if the fire had started at night and we'd been asleep, we wouldn't be here now. It was so scary.

The fire has destroyed clothes and left every room smoke damaged

"I had to go and stay at my sisters and my little boy and girl had to go to their dads over the weekend and they keep saying 'when are we getting a new house'.

"Luckily, we've been able to find somewhere but it's not in Rishton so I won't be close to my family, but at least we'll have somewhere.

"It's been such a stressful time."

The fire even damaged the bathroom

Shannon, who is due to have her third child in just nine weeks' time, said the fire destroyed all her children's toys and all the items she'd bought for the new baby, as well as furniture, clothes and beds.

She says she's been incredibly lucky to have so much support from her family and friends, but feels like she will have to start again, from scratch.

She added: "It was such a lovely house. I had it really nice and had just done the bedroom up ready for the new baby.

"People have been amazing though, and my family are so supportive. It's just so upsetting.

"You never think anything like this is going to happen to you. It's mad how things can just change in the blink of an eye."

A spokesperson for the fire service said two fire engines from Hyndburn and Great Harwood were sent to Clarke Street at 4.10pm on Friday, and were at the incident for almost three hours while they got the fire under control.

The fire ripped through Shannon Hoyle's kitchen, destroying the whole house

Following the blaze, Shannon's friend, Stephanie Golden set up a Go Fund Me page for the young family, which has already raised more than £800.

The fundraiser reads: "As you may have heard Shannon has had a house fire, which has resulted in her losing everything.

"We are so lucky that her and her beautiful babies are all safe.

"Shannon is also heavily pregnant and is absolutely heartbroken.

"On behalf of her mum Laura she’s asked me to set up this page to help raise a little and take the some of the financial burden from her."

To help Shannon and her family, visit uk.gofundme.com/f/help-to-give-a-little-for-shannon-and-her-babies