A young Scottish family have been forced to live separately after a horror house fire tore through their apartment just weeks before Christmas.
The explosion, caused by a tealight candle, has forced Colin Hay, 36, and Nicola Jeffrey, 33, to stay with their relatives along with their two daughters after the blaze erupted on December 2.
Emergency services raced to Colin and Nicola's home in Galashiels, Scottish Borders, after an explosion rocked the block of flats during the middle of the night. Residents were evacuated by the fire service over fears surrounding the building's stability, reports the Record.
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The young family's home was subsequently left with serious damage including the windows being blown out as they find themselves homeless just two weeks before Christmas. Kind-hearted resident and friend Aaron Mason has started a fundraiser to try and recoup some of the damages lost in the fire.
Colin and Nicola, along with their children Aila, four, and Melanie, three, are living with relatives and hoping to move into temporary accommodation on Christmas Eve.
Aaron Mason, who was evacuated by emergency services, said: "It's one of those things that you read in the newspaper and say 'oh God imagine that but it's fine because it'll never happen' until it does.
"We woke up to a bang on the door from the police just after 3am. They were evacuating the building and we all needed to get out. We threw on some clothes and grabbed the keys for the cafe because we thought if we were going to be out for a while, it was somewhere warm where we could get coffee.
"We were outside in the car park for probably about an hour. We were then moved to another car park further away because at this point, they still weren't sure of the safety of the building and the gas risk. We took everyone down to the Bakehouse to keep people warm and give them a bite to eat.
"We were there until about 8.30am when we got the all clear that we were all safe to go back to our flats but obviously Nicola and Colin weren't. Their whole living room is just gone. The walls are going to need to come down and be rebuilt.
"They're going to need news windows because the living room and kitchen ones were blown out. There's a lot of damage."
An in-depth investigation into the blaze remains ongoing, although initial findings revealed a single tealight which ignited a nearby aerosol can was the likely cause. Police Scotland have confirmed that no criminality was involved.
Aaron explained: "There was a tealight that wasn't blown out before going to bed, which we've all done. Something has happened which caused a fire to catch. Nicola and Colin still don't know exactly how that happened and what caused it to spread.
"One thing has led to another and an aerosol can that was near the tealight, the fire spread to that and it was that that caused the actual explosion itself. Nicola and Colin are staying with their parents and the kids are staying with Nicola's sister.
"There's obviously four of them so not many family homes would have spare accommodation for them all. A letting agent has managed to sort them a temporary house to move into on Christmas Eve.
"But in the meantime, we're trying to get them an AirBnb so they can all be together and have some sense of normality. The response has been so refreshing to see the community come together to support them.
"Everyone is feeling the cost-of-living crisis and everything else that's going on but it's just so heartwarming to see that people are still willing to help and support the family."
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