Widow and mother-of-three homeless after house blaze in Moray destroys 'everything'

A widow and a mother-of-three have spoken of how they have lost “everything” after a blaze destroyed both their homes in Moray.

Emergency services were called to Regent Street, in Keith, at around 9am on Monday following reports of a fire affecting two homes on the street.

Eight fire engines were sent to the scene and the blaze was brought under control with no injuries reported – however, Dorothy Mitchell, who has lived in her home in Keith for 56 years, says “everything” was in her home which is now burnt out.

“I heard burning, and I heard this cracking like a sparking noise”, she told STV News. “My first thought was phone chargers, so I checked my phone chargers, nothing there.

“I went up the stair into the shower room, and the smoke was coming out the room to meet me.

“So I just closed the door, phoned the fire brigade and got out.

“Everything’s in there.”

The roof of both properties was left destroyed, leaving Lindsay Mather and her three children, also homeless.

She said: “I just dropped the kids at school and I came back to the house.

“I was like ‘oh my word’ when I saw the smoke coming out the room.

“I think last night it hit the kids. They are asking for their specific toy, and all I can say is, I’ll save it if I can.”

A fundraiser has now been launched by a local resident in a bid to help those who have lost their homes.

Organiser Taylor Stirling said: “There both needing everything from clothes to fixing their properties or finding somewhere else to live. So that money gives them a kickstart.