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A family-of-three left homeless after a blaze tore through their home of 25 years said they have lost “absolutely everything” - but are grateful “we have our lives”.
The fire broke out at around 10.30am on Monday on Barlow Road in West Hampstead, in the borough of Camden.
Thankfully, Bernadette, 43, and her two children, Tyrone, 20, and Lashana, 16, were out of the house when the fire started.
But their beloved dog Tuffy, who was a companion to Lashana, was sadly killed in the blaze.
London Fire Brigade said the incident was caused by an e-scooter battery which had burst into flames while it had been left on charge. It took eight fire engines and approximately 60 firefighters to put out the fire.
Bernadette said she and her daughter have been living with a family friend and are in contact with Camden Council to find temporary accommodation.
“We are okay, we have seen better days. We have lost absolutely everything, but we have our lives,” she told the Standard.
“My daughter is very upset, she’s lost her dog and her companion. We are trying to get back to normal as best we can. My daughter has gone back to college today.
“We are not 100 per cent sure on what happened, but the house went up like a match.”
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Bernadette said they had lost a lot of valuables and sentimental items including watches, rings, school certificates and teddies.
But one of her biggest worries was for her daughter, who had lost her bedroom and personal space just before her GCSEs.
“Lashana is doing GCSE art and design in college, so all her sketches were in the room and it doesn’t look anything like a room anymore,” she said.
“She finds it very hard to stay in other peoples homes. She was asking me ‘when are we going’ this morning but I said I don’t know when that will be.
“It keeps coming back to her, everything she’s lost — her trainers, her driving licence, her ID, but I keep reminding her that she has her life.
“I want to make her feel a bit more comfortable.”
A friend has set up a GoFundMe page for the family, with over £1,100 raised so far.
Recalling the incident, Bernadette said: “It was dramatic and very upsetting. Bringing my dog out and trying to resuscitate her, that stuck in my head.
“It was a really traumatic experience. She was a rescue dog and she was very nervous and I was just imagining what that must’ve been like for her.”
Just 16 hours after fire broke out in Bernadette’s home, a battery pack on a second-hand converted e-bike at a house on Bridlepath Way in Feltham caught alight.
Six fire engines and around 40 firefighters were dispatched to the scene, but by the time they arrived, the fire had already spread across most of the property.
London Fire Brigade issued a warning to the public on Wednesday about the dangers of e-bikes and e-scooters.
Fire officials say e-bikes and e-scooters are becoming one of the capital’s fastest-growing fire risks, with 171 incidents reported last year — one every other day on average.
Bernadette said: “Myself and my daughter had an e-scooter. I only bought it three months ago. It’s not old, so if it is that then it was a faulty product that I was sold.
“It’s literally a bomb. If they are selling these things for £40 and people are going home and plugging them in and they’re doing that, it’s just madness.
“In the shops they don’t give you much information. They just tell you to wear a helmet and to be safe, they don’t give you any information on how to charge them.”
Bernadette believes e-scooters should not be charged inside the home and admitted she would never get another one.
“I bought the e-scooter for our mental health, but I never would have brought the scooter into my home if I had known.
“I will never get another one, it has traumatised me.”
Bernadette’s step-father Mike said the fire had “massively effected the family”.
“They’ve lost everything. they’re just completely shaken up. Bernadette is holding together very well.
“The dog had been with them for eight years, ever since Lashana was young,” he added.
“It’s just complete devastation.”
