A father and his two sons are rebuilding their lives after losing almost everything when a fire ripped through their home last month while they were on the school run.
Jeremy Clubb and 15 year-old Samuel, who has Autistic Spectrum Disorder, and Joseph, 12, have been temporarily re-housed while their semi-detached home in Trenchard Court, Morden, is re-built after the blaze.
Firefighters at the house shortly after the fire took hold
The roof was totally gutted and the first floor partly destroyed by the fire on Friday, April 17, which took 21 fire fighters several hours to bring under control.
Mr Clubb had been out of the house for just 20 minutes taking Joseph to school when he returned to hear the fire alarm bleeping and smoke and an orange glow of flames under the bedroom door.
Some of their belongings were saved, including a pottery wheel, his son’s laptop and a tank of fish but they lost precious memories including family photographs and keepsakes from the boys’ childhoods.
Amazingly, six photographs of Mr Clubb’s late mother and father and one of him as a baby were retrieved from the smouldering home, but the rest were burnt along with clothes, kitchenware and furniture.
Saved from the fire: A charred photo of Mr Clubb's sister Sherri Wilcock on her wedding day in approximately 1983 or 1984.
The devastated dad said he has been overwhelmed by the support from neighbours who have rallied round to help - bringing round essential items and things he never realised he would miss, such as a laundry basket and bin.
His Nepalese neighbours have raised £200 to help despite coping with their own challenges after the Nepalese earthquake.
Mr Clubb's grandmother.
Mr Clubb initially tried to fight the fire himself armed with a hose from the back garden, but was pushed back outside by the heat of the flames which within one minute had morphed into an inferno.
He said: "I went to get a hose and it had all changed when I got back.
"Someone said later why was I going to put water on an electrical fire - I wasn’t thinking."
Mr Clubb thinks the fire may have been caused by a faulty second hand hard drive being plugged into a four way multi-socket with other items, which over-heated and melted through the bedroom floor, but the official cause is still being investigated by the London Fire Brigade.
He said since the blaze he has become extremely cautious, going back to the temporary house on the same estate for ex-servicemen run by Haig Housing, after he goes out to check and re-check plugs and electrical items.
He said his sons are ok and have not missed a day of school despite the upheaval.
Mr Clubb, a former Lance Corporal combat medic in the army, said he wants to move on from this and the most important thing is the family are safe and well.
A London Fire Brigade spokesperson said: "You should never try and fight a fire yourself - you risk getting hurt and making the incident worse.
"Firefighters have the proper skills and equipment to tackle a fire safely, so if you have one always get out, stay out, and call 999."
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