Family 'devastated' after cat dies in house fire caused by tumble dryer

Iain Clark and his wife had to grab their children to escape the blaze at their home on Willowbank Rise, Dunfermline.

Family ‘broke down’ after pet cat died in Dunfermline house fire caused by tumble dryerIain Clark via Supplied

A family has spoken of their devastation after a fire started by a tumble dryer destroyed their home and killed their beloved pet cat.

Iain Clark and his wife had to grab their children, aged six and one, and run after the blaze took hold of their home on Willowbank Rise, Dunfermline on Tuesday evening.

The Lloyds TSB worker only had time to grab their dog before sprinting outside in his pyjamas to join his family – leaving eight-year-old cat Ollie sleeping upstairs.

The father-of-two revealed he “broke down” after firefighters told him that the feline died in the ensuing blaze that left nothing of the home.

Iain said losing Ollie was 'awful'.

He told STV News: “We lost our cat Ollie. It was awful.

“We broke down when the fire service told us, but we could take solace in the fact he wouldn’t have been in pain as he was upstairs sleeping.

“The fire started in the kitchen as that’s where the tumble dryer was, and it was that what caused the fire.

“We have lost everything. We don’t know if anything will be able to be saved, the insurance may think some stuff upstairs might able to, like clothes and stuff but they weren’t sure.

The fire ripped through the house after staring in the kitchen.

“But everything downstairs is gone, including the washing machine, fridge freezer, tumble dryer, TV, our Nintendo switch, our baby monitor, cooker, microwave, and my son’s buggy.

“Most of these things can be replaced, but the biggest loss was our cat Ollie.”

“We are staying at my dad’s at the moment, and we are waiting for a temporary house through Kingdom Housing.

“The community support has been amazing following the fire.

“We are very overwhelmed with everything that everyone is doing for us.”

To help the family, you can donate to their GoFundMe here.

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