Community / Couple start fundraiser after ‘devastating’ Lerwick fire leaves them with little
A FUNDRAISER has been set up after a Lerwick house fire left a couple with virtually no belongings.
Rhanna Latham started the GoFundMe following the fire on Harbour Street on Tuesday night, which was started by a heater in the home.
No-one was injured in the fire, which saw parts of the surrounding streets closed off.
Latham said on the online fundraiser that they had “lost a huge deal” in the fire, with her husband Gary – who works as a joiner – having most of his tools ruined.
She added that while they were “incredibly grateful” nobody was hurt, it had been “completely devastating” to lose so much so close to Christmas.
Latham said it would “take a huge deal of work to get the place liveable again”, adding they did not have contents insurance either.
Speaking afterwards, Latham said the couple had been at Tesco to return to find their home on fire.
Most of the flat has been badly smoke damaged, with Rhanna saying everywhere “was just black” when they got inside.
“When we first got there the firefighters couldn’t even say what it looked like,” Gary said.
“The smoke was so bad, they said ‘we can’t see anything in there’.”
The couple said they wished to thank everyone who had donated to the fundraiser.
Fire crews from Lerwick and Scalloway were called to the scene just after 8.10pm, with four appliances attending.
Breathing apparatus, two hose reel jets and a thermal imaging camera were used to extinguish the fire.
The last appliance left the scene at around 10.10pm.
People can donate to the GoFundMe by following this link.
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