Edinburgh mum-of-two watched house burn after tumble dryer burst into flames

A mum-of-two had to watch her house burn after her tumble dryer burst into flames in Edinburgh.

Abby was making lunch for her 18-month-old toddler on November 7 when she saw flames out of the corner of her eye.

“When I turned around and saw the flames, I went over, and it made a bang, so I grabbed the wee one and the dog and left the house,” she said.

The mum-of-two called emergency services and tried to use a hose to put the fire out herself.

“I left my son with my neighbour to try and put it out myself, but the smoke got too much, so I just had to leave again,” she said.

Abby said she felt helpless waiting for emergency services to arrive.

“It felt like forever waiting for fire services; it was probably only ten minutes, but when you’re watching your house burn, and there’s nothing you can do, it felt like forever,” she added.

My eldest son was at school at the time, but because we live so close to the school, he and his classmates could see the flames.

“Apparently, some of the kids in the class were crying; he knows where we live, so it was really scary for them,” she said.

When fire services arrived, Abby said the fire was put out quickly, and workers took them through the “devastating” damage.

“The conservatory needs to be demolished and rebuilt; luckily, we’d just had the roof replaced with fire retardant material, which the fireman said saved the entire home from going up,” she said.

She added that the open-plan kitchen and living space, as well as the hallway and bathroom, need to be stripped back to their bricks.

“We were told to get rid of our clothes too as the smoke has gotten to them and you can’t wash out the particles.”

Abby said the family is expecting to be out of their home for eight months to a year.

Two weeks after the fire, Abby said she hadn’t heard anything from the insurance company following the forensic team’s initial investigations.

She added they opted to stay with relatives after their insurance company offered the family of five a hotel room, which wasn’t suitable as they couldn’t fit her youngest’s cot.

Abby said their surrounding community has been “really helpful”, our local Sainsbury gave us a free uniform for my son and some outfits for my toddler.

“The local Scot Mid gave us baby formula, the local church messaged to see if they could help – we cant take any donations as we have nowhere to live,” she said.

“When something like this happens it makes you realise how much you don’t need.”

The mum said she is “still in denial” adding that it’s hard to believe all their things are gone.

A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “We were alerted at 2.04pm on Thursday, 7 November, to reports of a dwelling fire in Edinburgh.

“Four fire appliances and a high reach appliance were mobilised to the scene where firefighters extinguished the fire.

“There were no casualties and crews left the scene at after ensuring the area was made safe.”