A family-of-six have been left with a bleak Christmas ahead of them after losing all their belongings and home in a traumatic blaze.

Stacey, 32, a stay-at-home mum from Manchester, has been left “terrified” after a devastating fire ripped through it on 6 October 2022 at 6.50pm.

Along with her husband Jayce, 25 and their four children, Emaleah, 13, Kodie, seven, Jayce, one and Alyssa, seven months, they spent 12 years in the property making happy memories – until she spotted flames encompassing her eldest’s room.

Panicked, she grabbed her children and ran outside, where she recalls watching her first home “burn to the ground” in a heartbreaking feat.

Now, they’ve been left piecing their lives back together after losing everything and have moved into Jayce’s mother’s two-bedroom home.

With Christmas fast approaching, the only gift the family are wishing for is to feel safe again.

“You never think it will happen to you," Stacey told NeedToKnow.online.

“It makes me really sad, as we cannot replace everything we have lost all in one go – especially for the children.

“Christmas is going to be a struggle because we’ve put every penny into our house, replacing the interior and any essential appliances lost.

"We'll be spending Christmas in a temporary home this year – but I'll miss our old beautiful house which used to be filled with decorations we had collected.

"I've lost them all, so we'll have to start from scratch.

"We just have to try and look forward to making new memories.

“It may take a few Christmases and birthdays to rebuild everything, but we have a lot of good people around us that will ensure our children won’t go without.

“We’ve lost everything, including sentimental items, all we’ve worked hard for and the older children lost their iPads and games consoles.

“It was Kodie’s birthday the week before and all his presents are gone, it’s been absolutely devastating.

“Honestly, I’m scared of moving into a home of our own again in case this happens again.”

Stacey recalls the traumatic ordeal, where she had a “gut-wrenching” feeling upon hearing the fire alarm sound.

She said: “I was washing the dishes and suddenly, the alarm went off, so I ran upstairs and all I could see was smoke filling the hallway.

“I screamed to my partner to come up and he went into our eldest daughter’s room, where he saw roaring flames.

“I quickly grabbed my babies, ran downstairs and outside – I didn’t think for one minute at this point we would lose our home.

“It was heartbreaking watching my first home since leaving my parents’ burn to the ground and the rooms glowing bright orange, as well as the windows smashing was unimaginable.”

Luckily, Emaleah was at dance class and Kodie was playing with friends – with all those left in the home, including their dog, safe.

Stacey said: “If this happened half an hour later, my babies would’ve been fast asleep in their cots. It's not worth thinking about.

“We were put in a hotel for the first four nights, but since then, we’ve been at my mother-in-law’s for nearly three weeks.

“It’s nine of us in a three-bed property, but we’re just grateful to have a roof over our heads.

“The older children are heartbroken, but myself and my husband are trying to be strong and rebuild our lives.

“Life is very hectic at the moment, it’s been so exhausting.”

While the investigation still continues into the cause, fire inspectors believe solar panels may be to blame – but the family had no initial concerns prior to the blaze.

Now, they’ve been left with thousands of pounds taken away from them, as well as a lifetime of memories.

She added: “There was a GoFundMe account set up for us to help rebuild everything (https://www.gofundme.com/f/jayce-and-stacey-rebuild-there-lives), so this will help – we can’t thank everyone enough for their support so far.

“I’ve lived in this area my whole life and for the first time, I’m terrified of going back.

“We have now been rehoused by the council into a temporary house and are in the process of building everything again.

"But I won't be returning back to my old home, as I will never forget what has happened.

“I hope the children will have a place to feel safe and call home soon.”

ENDS

EDITOR'S NOTE: The family would appreciate a hyperlink to the GoFundMe page set up for them to be included in digital publications: https://www.gofundme.com/f/jayce-and-stacey-rebuild-there-lives 

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