Hull Mum "devastated" following freak house fire

Becky Skipworth returned from a family holiday to discover a fire had destroyed her home.

Published 4th Jul 2016

A Hull mum's been left devastated after returning from a holiday at the weekend to find a fire had destroyed her home.

Investigators believe the fire at Becky Skipworth's property in Plym Grove in east Hull started when the electronic shower in the bathroom exploded.

She's lost the majority of her belongings and has had to move out of the family home which she shares with her 3-year-old son and foster son.

Becky first realised what had happened after getting back to her home on Friday after a family week away.

She told Viking she's "distraught" and "devastated" by the freak fire:

"As soon as I opened the door I was in shock and it was like what do I do now? I tried to turn the water tap off and my first thought was to ring the fire brigade because even though the fire was out, you still need to be safe. It is just devastating. I am constantly crying and I don't know what to do.

"The bathroom is completely black and damaged and is going to be replaced. The smoke has gone through every single room including the living room and it is just devastating seeing all the children's toys covered in soot. You underestimate the damage that fire can cause, I am just pulling out drawers and everything is just covered in soot.

"You just don't expect this to happen to you, it is like a freak accident. I don't know where to put myself. We have had to move into my Grandma's house and there are three of us sleeping in one bedroom until I cna move back home, which we do not know when that will be.

"It's believed it happened in the afternoon and if we hadn't have been on holiday then myself and my two boys would have been in the house and I can't even imagine what would have happened then.

"We are just left with the clothes we had from our holiday. You just don't know where to start as everything is damaged and I don't have much left now."

Becky says it could have been so much worse though:

"Because the shower has exploded it has burst a pipe so it's not just fire and smoke damage, there is also a lot of water damage but if the pipe hadn't have burst then the fire wouldn't have gone out and it could have been so much worse."

Viking's Cash for Kids charity has now stepped in to try and help the family.

Meanwhile, a fundraising page has also been set up to support the family which can be found here:

https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/HouseFireHull?utm_campaign=projectpage-share-owner&utm_content=HouseFireHull&utm_medium=Yimbyprojectpage&utm_source=Facebook&utm_term=p6ZPyVd36