Burn Down

A Family whose House was destroyed in a wildfire during last week's heatwave watched it Burn Down on television.

Michael Tubb first learned about The Blaze after seeing a Breaking News alert on his phone saying East London firefighters had declared an emergency.

After clicking on The Story , he saw the name Wennington, a village on The Outskirts of the capital where his 73-year-old mother Sandra Tubb lived.

Minutes later she phoned him, saying: " It's gone. "

Mrs Tubb watched it happen on television at her neighbour's daughter's home, having been evacuated by firefighters.

" They watched it live on TV until at one point the camera panned across from the helicopter and they saw their House ablaze, " her son said.

" I put The News back on and There was the helicopter shot of Our House . That was at half past four on the Tuesday, " He Said .

Their family home for 48 years, it was where his father died.

" I've been in The Garden trying to retrieve my dad's ashes which are the only thing that have survived the terrible fire, the only thing left of Our Family , " He Said .

At The Peak of The Blaze , an area of about 40 hectares (100 acres) was ablaze.

London Fire Brigade said two detached houses, two semi-detached houses, two rows of terraced houses, two outbuildings, six single-storey garages, 12 stables and five cars were destroyed.

Mrs Tubb's possessions, including photos and the blankets she brought her son home from hospital in as a baby, are gone.

" It's a total loss, " her son said. " Every piece of memorabilia and anything that's sentimental that's meant anything to her has completely gone.

" She's distraught. She's a very sentimental person so she's a lot more emotional than say I Am ; she's more concerned about My Baby photos and things like that. "

He added emergency services got His Mother out straight away, meaning she left with " just the clothes on her back".

Since The Fire , Mrs Tubb has been staying in a hotel arranged by Havering Council while they look for Something More permanent.

The Family now have the difficult task of deciding whether to knock the entire House down.

" I look at that now, There 's not a floor, There 's not a wall.

" It's like a mixture of when someone dies and you're Moving House - There 's so many things to try and arrange.

" Just trying to think about how we move on with nothing, that's the hard part.

" At no point are you expected to start your life with absolutely nothing, not a teaspoon, you know nothing at all, so we're all trying to rally around Mum and make sure she has everything. "

He added: " It's hard. It's been an absolutely traumatic week. "

Source of news: bbc.com