A Fife dad, who lost everything in a devastating house fire three weeks ago has vowed to rebuild his family’s home in time for Christmas this year.
Plumber, Iain Miller, and his two daughters were left homeless after a fire ripped through their house in Canmore Grove in Dunfermline on December 30, completely destroying the property.
The blaze was started by a loose coal that is thought to have rolled on the living room carpet whilst the family were outside enjoying themselves in their hot tub.
Fire crews fought for six hours to bring the blaze under control which in its wake has left nothing but a brick shell and the family with nothing.
However, despite the devastating setback, Iain is determined to rebuild rather and walk away and says he has been humbled by the generosity of both the public and by fellow tradespeople who have offered their help.
A Go Fund Me page set up in the wake of the fire has already raised over £13,000, while joiners, roofers and builders have also come forward to help him rebuild.
“It’s been heartbreaking to have lost every single thing we own, especially for my two girls, Casey and Holly, but we have to be thankful that no one was injured and that we are all safe, including Frank, our pet dog,” said Iain.
“The utter devastation caused by the fire is still hard to comprehend.
“It was early evening and we were all in the hot tub in the garden oblivious to the fire that had started inside.
“It was only when one of the girls opened the door that we were confronted with a wall of billowing black smoke.
“We were all just in swim gear but I ran inside and just managed to save Frank.”
Iain, and his partner, Lauren Selfridge, admitted initial thoughts were to walk away but confirmation last week that the house is structurally sound has spurred the couple to accept the biggest challenge of their lives.
“We always said we’d love to build our own home but I’d have preferred to do it in less dramatic circumstances, “ admits Lauren.
“We have to treat it as a blank canvass and I’m under no illusion it’s going to be a mammoth task but now the trauma of the fire is behind us and with the unbelievable support we have, we won’t let the fire beat and we’re aiming to be back in by Christmas.”
And the couple have received a further boost with news that building trade promotions company, Electric House, are to make a video of Iain’s story in the hope of generating further support from within the industry.
“It’s been amazing, I’ve already got several fellow tradesmen offering their time for nothing and I’ll obviously, owning my own plumbing business, I’ll be doing the plumbing and heating myself.
“It’ll be a long slog but we’ll have a house that that’s bigger and better than we had before.
“Rest assured on one thing though, I won’t be having a coal fire.”
