Tara White nipped out to Asda in Barnsley to pick up some bits for dinner when she received a ‘nightmare’ phone call from her 13-year-old daughter, who was was home alone
A mum has described the terrifying moment she received a phone call from her teenage daughter telling her that the family home was on fire.
Tara White had popped to the local Asda to buy ingredients for dinner on June 3 when she picked up her phone to hear the voice of her 13-year-old, Taylor, in a state of panic. Only moments earlier, the teen had been forced to run for her life, clad only in a dressing gown, as an accidental blaze took over her bedroom. Tara quickly ditched her shopping and raced home – where she found smoke billowing out of every window of the house.
She told Yorkshire Live: “My daughter, Taylor, rang me in an awful state. She was crying down the phone trying to explain to me that the house was on fire.
“I couldn’t really understand and when I raced home, I saw the smoke and flames coming out of all of our windows.”
The blaze started when Taylor lit a tea candle by her bed, before walking downstairs to get a snack from the kitchen of their home in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.
As Taylor stepped out of bed, she accidentally covered the flame with the blanket, with the ensuing fire quickly spreading to the rest of the bed.
Taylor returned upstairs to see the bedroom well alight – and quickly bolted for the front door.
Describing the aftermath, Tara, 38, said: “It was the most devastating thing I have ever seen. The fire had completely engulfed everything. I just grabbed Taylor and pulled her towards me.”
Luckily, only Tara and her youngest daughter were at home when the fire erupted around 7.30pm.
Tara’s partner and his family were staying across the road from her house, and his son, Leon, acted quickly to save the family pet from the flames.
He shot through the door and scooped up their tiny dog just as the downstairs ceiling began to smoulder.
The mum said: “He just swooped right in to get her out. All of our neighbours began swarming us after that, trying to get me and my daughter clothes because both of us were only in our PJ’s, and checking Leon was okay as well.”
South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service arrived within minutes to put out the blaze, but Tara said that the damage is “irreversible” and fears Taylor’s room may not be fixable.
She added: “I have no clue how long it will take to fix. Taylor’s room is absolutely ruined, with the ceiling caving in. Everything else is either melted, covered in ash or water damaged.
“”The first few days after she felt so guilty. She was devastated and of course, I was as well.
“We have lived there for the last four years and the house was filled with so many memories that we will never be able to get back. All I can do to console her is keep reminding her that accidents happen.”
Tara, who is living with her family in a hotel provided by Barnsley Council, is now hoping to get their life back on track.
She said her neighbours have “helped so much” in the week since the fire, and has set up a GoFundMe page to try and raise money to replace some of her daughter’s belongings.