Mum left 'homeless' days before Christmas after horrific blaze destroys her home
dailyrecord.co.ukA distraught mother of two has been left homeless days before Christmas after a fire destroyed her entire home. Toni Shield, 35, had left the house on December 21 at around 6:10pm to meet up with her friends when she began receiving an influx of panicked phone calls from her neighbours.When she answered the phone, she was shocked to learn that her property on Craigside Avenue in West Derby had gone 'up in flames' and she immediately rushed home, the Liverpool Echo reports.
Merseyside Fire and Rescue were called out to Toni's home of 14 years where she lives with her two children, aged five and 11 after a neighbour dialled 999 at around 7.48pm.Only minutes later, three fire engines arrived at the scene where the ground floor of the terraced property was well alight.
The devastated mother had spent 'thousands of pounds' on her kids' presents this year and had laid them out on the sofa, ready to wrap that night.Toni told the ECHO: "My neighbour told me she heard a bang when the windows blew out.
Another person from across the street was trying to put it out with a fire extinguisher but the flames were coming out of the window. "I had literally just bought the kids presents and they were on the couch ready to be wrapped that night.
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