AN OAP couple have told of their heartbreak after their home of four decades was destroyed by a fire after lightning struck it.
Connie and Rob Turner, both 79, had to be pulled from their beloved house by hero neighbours who rushed to their aid.
SWNSAn OAP couple’s home was destroyed by a blaze after it was struck by lightning[/caption]
SWNSConnie and Rob Turner had to be rescued by their neighbours when their home went up in flames[/caption]
SWNSConnie’s daughter Caroline Moore said when she arrived at the East Yorkshire home it was like a film[/caption]
SWNSThe couple told of hearing a ‘horrific noise’ before the smoke started billowing down their stairs[/caption]
The pair were raced to hospital and returned to find their Holme-on-Spalding-Moor, East Yorkshire home a charred, crumbling mess.
They have now told of hearing a “horrific noise” before their home went up in flames – which they now know was a lightning strike.
Connie and Rob, who is disabled, had been enjoying a relaxing Sunday evening together before the blaze ripped through their home – destroying 40 years of possessions and memories.
The couple were watching TV when they heard a horror noise, before neighbours raced over and rescued them from the burning home.
Connie bravely said: “I can’t believe it. We’ve lost absolutely everything. We have got nothing.”
Her daughter Caroline Moore said the home was left looking like a disaster movie.
She said while the couple were thankfully not physically injured in the blaze, they’d been left mentally scarred.
The 54-year-old recalled: “It was Sunday tea time. I think it struck around 4.30pm. They were sitting in their kitchen area watching the TV.
“There was just an almighty bang. It had become really dark, and then the rain started really heavy. And there were hail stones as well.
“I don’t really think they fully understood what it was. It was just a horrific, horrific bang.
“My mum, bless her, ran outside to look at the neighbour’s house because she thought it was the one next door. And then she realised it was her own house.”
Caroline said her mum said it was then that smoke started billowing down the stairs and throughout the hallway.
She continued: “I think it struck the roof over the bedroom at the back, that’s what we can gather anyway.
I can’t believe it. We’ve lost absolutely everything. We have got nothing.
Connie Turner
“But it’s wiped it out. When lightning travels, it needs to find an exit. It just travelled throughout the house.”
The 54-year-old said: “It was just like going onto a film set.
“I jumped out of my car, left the engine running and the door wide open, and just ran to the ambulance. I didn’t know at this point what I was going to find.
“They were devastated. They were both in tears. My stepdad is disabled so the neighbours managed to get him out. And my mum, her blood pressure was over 200.
“It was just devastating to see them like that.”
Humberside Fire and Rescue Service confirmed they had been called to the house after a blaze started when the home was hit by lightning.
They said much of the upper floor roof was destroyed, and the ground floor majorly damaged by smoke and water.
SWNSConnie said she and Rob had ‘lost absolutely everything’[/caption]
SWNSCrews were rushed to the blaze on Sunday evening[/caption]
SWNSNeighbours had to rescue Connie and Rob from the blazing home[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
