'I lost nearly everything because of a tea light'

A woman who lost nearly everything in a house fire she believes was caused by a tea light is warning others to take safety precautions.

Jo Barnes said just one room was spared serious damage when her house in Cinderford caught fire on Christmas Day - because its door was closed.

"Be extra careful with candles, I didn't think in a million years it would set fire to anything but it did," said Barnes, whose family dog Teddy died in the fire at her home in Steam Mills Road.

"When you're warned to keep your doors shut or use fire doors when you're in a flat, keep them shut - it really does work and you don't think it could save you but it can," she added.

Barnes had popped out for 20 minutes to collect some of her daughter's Christmas presents when the fire broke out.

"When we got back, my daughter opened the door and the door just fell in and there were flames," she said.

"I think the oxygen coming in made it all go in minutes and the house was up," she added.

Barnes said the fire service told her the blaze was caused by combustible materials which were next to a heat source. She suspects her cat knocked a burning tea light off of her mantlepiece.

She said the door to the only room to be spared from fire damage was thin, but it was still able to hold back the flames until the fire service arrived.

Elsewhere, the damage was substantial - Barnes said the family has lost "nearly everything" but she still does not know the full extent of it.

"The kitchen and the dining room are basically gone and the stairs and upstairs landing, but I haven't made it past there," she said.

"Everything else, if the fire didn't touch it then there was thick smoke."

Within hours of the fire, the local community started trying to help the family get back on their feet by donating household items and raising more than £4,000, some of which has been shared with neighbours who suffered smoke damage.

"Everyone's been amazing, people we've never met before have taken time out of their Christmas to bring us things and help us out," said Barnes.

"It means everything, it's helped us all get through it to know there's so many people there [willing to help]", she added.

"I want to say a big thank you to everyone who helped or donated or even messaged to see how we were doing, we really do appreciate it."

She also thanked Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service who she said "went above and beyond" in trying to save their belongings and their efforts to rescue Teddy. The family's two other dogs were able to escape the fire through the back door.

The house fire in Cinderford was the first of four in Gloucestershire in less than a month, with two of those being fatal.

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