'Devastated' Shocking images show couple's home in Clayton Brook after blaze caused by suspected firework

“They got out of the house but the fire engulfed it from the back. We think that children have been throwing fireworks in the back of the gardens.”

These shocking images show a couple’s home gutted by fire following a blaze which is suspected to have been started by children throwing fireworks.

Couple Annette Wallace, 63, partner John and their two Staffordshire Bull Terriers Kiko and Enzo, were lucky to escape safely when the fire tore through their house in Clayton Brook - thanks to their dogs barking .

Now they are facing the ‘devastating’ reality of losing 40 years of memories with family pictures and memorabilia burned.

Annette and John were watching television at their Places for People home in Woodfield when the fire started. It ripped through the inside of her home of 40 years with Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service spending several hours first fighting the fire and then extracting the smoke from the property.

Two fire engines from Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service attended the scene of the fire following an emergency call at 7.49pm on Saturday. They used breathing apparatus and one hose reel jet to extinguish the fire.

Katie Wallace, Annette’s daughter-in-law, has started a GoFundMe page so Annette and John can be supported.

She told Blog Preston: “They got out of the house but the fire engulfed it from the back. We think that children have been throwing fireworks in the back of the gardens.

“The fire brigade have said it’s definitely a firework that started it. The flames were above the house. It was just engulfed, it’s been destroyed. It’s hard to prove what’s happened. The police are investigating. Because they’ve got two dogs, finding them somewhere temporary is challenging.

“Annette is just absolutely devastated. She has lost everything. It’s forty years of memories just gone. Photos of her son Matthew [Katie’s husband] in the army just melted. She’s no clothes. They’ve spent their savings doing the property up and within ten minutes it was just gone.”

Annette, John, and the dogs did not get to a hotel until approximately 1am on Sunday as the property needed to be secured.

Katie added: “Even if we can just get some clothes together for them, every little helps. She’s got rheumatoid arthritis and she is undergoing transfusions to try and help with the pain that she’s in.

Lancashire Constabulary is investigating the fire but it is suspected to have been started by a firework on the outdoor fencing.

Places for People, who own the property, have provided hotel accommodation for two nights, along with food vouchers, for Annette and John.