A 'house-proud' mum has lost everything she owns after a devastating fire ripped through her home.
Pat Carey, 61, was visiting her mum, a short taxi ride away from her Anfield home, when a man knocked at the door and said 'her place' was on fire.
Once she arrived back at her home on Spurgeon Close she said the street was 'full' of emergency service vehicles. She was frozen in shock watching her house in flames.
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Pat told The ECHO : "I was out visiting my mum to give her some company because she is 90 and a man knocked at the door and was shouting 'Pat, Pat, your place is on fire' and I was like 'what?'.
"We could hardly get into the street with all the fire engines and when I got there I was just looking at my house and couldn't believe it.
"I loved that house, I worked so hard to make it a home and get all the furniture. It's more the memories I have lost and the pictures."
A Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service spokesperson said: "We were called to Spurgeon Close, Anfield, on Tuesday 18 th January.
"Crews were alerted at 2.33pm and on scene at 2.35pm. Three fire engines attended. On arrival crews found a fire in the bedroom of a ground floor flat.
"Four firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entered the property and used two high pressure hose reel jets to extinguish the fire.
"Properties either side were checked by crews but there was no fire spread."
When Pat arrived home, where she had lived for four years, firefighters told her the blaze was started by a small mirror that was on her bedside table.
They explained because the sun was low it had hit the mirror, reflecting the sun's rays onto a nearby fabric lampshade setting it on fire.
From there the fire completely destroyed the bedroom, bathroom, living room and some of the kitchen.
Pat said she had a picture of her son, who was stillborn, in the house which is now 'lost forever'.
She added: "I love my house, some people love going out but I love staying at home and I'm houseproud.
"I'm devastated and so upset. I have lost everything, my furniture is melted and my clothes are gone."
Pat is staying with her daughter at the moment but said she wants to move back if she can.
She told The ECHO : "I'm not giving up, I'm going to move back. They (insurance company) are going to check it all out then they are going to tell the owner what they can do."
A fundraising page has been set up for Pat on Facebook by her daughter, Meg Carey.
Her daughter said: "At around three o’clock I got a phone call to tell me that my mums house was on fire, at first it didn’t sink in what was getting said then it clicked and my stomach turned.
"My poor mum crying screaming 'my house, my everything, my memories', my heart just dropped.
"My poor mum is my world. if anyone out there could help in any way we would be so so grateful."
To donate to the fundraising page click here.
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