Melksham couple grateful for support following lightning strike fire

THE Melksham couple who had their house set on fire by a lightning strike has thanked the community for their support but asked that no donations are made. 

Sylvia and Terry Cook were on holiday in Greece when a lightning strike hit their home in Littlejohn Avenue and set it alight. The story caused shock among many residents in Melksham who were quick to offer their sympathy and support as a community fund was set up for the couple.

Despite the damage to their Melksham home Sylvia and Terry, who have now returned from their holiday, have asked that no donations are made as they are insured.

They said, “We received an email from a friend in Melksham whilst we were in Greece to say that Lorna Carroll has started a fund for us since our house in Littlejohn Avenue burned down. We are deeply touched by the sympathy and support shown by the whole community, but we are insured and although things will take time, we will be ok.

“Having insurance has made it a little easier to handle and it is a matter of being strong and getting through it.  We are also extremely grateful to the firemen who put some furniture and other pieces in the conservatory in the hope they could be salvaged and they are off being cleaned now. They even put some photo albums and books from a cabinet in there. Our new dining table and chairs were in the conservatory and seem fine thankfully.

“However, we now know that our three beds were all wrecked on the first floor with water and fire debris falling through the loft floor, but downstairs seems to be just water damage. The people who are making the house safe and clearing rubble located my little bits of jewellery from the ashes where I asked them to look, they just need a soapy wash, and even most of our clothes in wardrobes may be cleanable.

“Things are looking more positive, but we are still in limbo until we find out what else can be salvaged. The assessor got back to us recently and it may be a bit longer before we can access our house to see what we still have such as fridge, washing machine, maybe some downstairs furniture but we will see.

“We are going to the house each day to monitor progress.  There’s not much else we can do! The scaffolding and tin roof are now up. What we do know is that the solar panels which were blamed by some for the blaze, actually didn’t have anything to do with it. Whilst, it may not have helped the blaze, it certainly wasn’t the cause. The fire would have happened whether they were on our roof or not.”