A Northern Ireland family has raised thousands of pounds through a community fundraiser, after fire crews helped save their home and land during a major farm blaze.
Despite having no connection to UK Fire and Rescue Services beforehand, Susan Stewart and her family chose to support us as a way of thanking the crews who helped them in the early hours of 30 August.
“We believe the fire was caused by an electrical fault,” says Susan. “It started in a covered silo next to our milking parlour and quickly became a huge fire. Fortunately, the wind was blowing the right way, otherwise it could have spread to the parlour or the house. It could have been much worse.”
Susan and her husband, both in their 70s, slept through the start of the fire. Fortunately, it was spotted by neighbours, with one contacting their son – who immediately called the fire service.
“We ended up having seven or eight fire engines from across the area, including an articulated arm from Belfast and two water tankers,” Susan says. “They fought the fire from 1am until around 6pm the following day.”
Although the blaze caused significant damage, including destroying a tractor, no animals were lost and nobody was injured – which Susan says is “the main thing they care about”.
“My son handled most of it and, as a family, we’ve always dealt with traumatic times by facing each step as it comes. The fire crews worked the same way – they took it step by step, reassuring us throughout, they were terrific,” Susan says. “This farm has been in my husband’s family for four generations, it was an incredibly scary night.”
A few days after the fire, the local Station Commander visited Susan and her family and, when they shared their wish to give back in some way, he told them about Fire Fighters Charity.
“We wanted to thank all of the people who helped us, as well as their colleagues. They were spread right across Northern Ireland, so supporting the charity that is there for all of them meant a lot to us,” Susan says.
They planned a coffee morning in the village, inviting all of the local community along. The event has already raised £4,300, with more donations still expected.
“When we had the coffee morning, we said to the guests: ‘we didn’t intend to be here today, nobody does. Guys and girls got out of their beds in the early hours of the morning, they left their homes and families, they didn’t even know where our village was – and yet they came and they helped us. That’s the bottom line’,” Susan says.
“Firefighters are always there for us, and hearing how the charity is there for them really stuck with us.”
Their wish to support us only grew stronger when Susan heard first-hand from a friend’s father, who is a retired firefighter and had our support.
“We could hear first-hand where this support goes,” she says. “I’d really encourage others to get involved. Very few people had heard of the charity at the event, and hopefully this will have brought it to their minds. We didn’t expect this to happen to us. Hopefully it’ll never happen to any of them, but it’s making sure support is there if it ever did.”
You can donate to the family’s online fundraiser here.