Ashill heatwave fire families devastated and made homeless

A number of people have been left homeless after a devastating fire swept through a village.

About 20 homes were either destroyed or badly damaged in Ashill, Norfolk, on Tuesday, when a fire in a neighbouring field got out of control.

John Horn and his family said it would take a year to rebuild their home but he was thankful they were safe.

It was "surreal" to see the full extent of the damage and "in the meantime we have to find accommodation", he said.

Mr Horn lives in the village, near Swaffham, with his wife Donna and daughters Sophie and Katie.

He said his wife was in the kitchen making a cup of tea on Tuesday afternoon, on the hottest day, when she noticed smoke in the field.

They were then told to evacuate and "Ashill was just black smoke".

His children managed to "save the Guinea pigs, hamster and laptops and we then went out the house in the clothes we had on".

"It was that traumatic and we didn't really have time to gather anything.

"It's very surreal to be here and to look at it all."

He said he had been told by his insurance company that it would replace everything, and that the properties would be demolished and rebuilt.

"Everyone is safe and everyone in this village has worked together, there's a real community spirit.

"We will get over it," he added.

Eleanor Taylor's home is the Old Post House on The Green. She said two thirds of it was destroyed and the rest was smoke damaged.

"It was incredibly quick, we didn't have to time to think about it."

She said she managed to get her disabled husband and animals to safety.

Her daughter, Kerry, had lost her childminding business of 22 years, she said.

"The whole property has gone, we've lost all our equipment, toys and resources. It's all gone, we've been left with nothing," Kerry Taylor said.

"We now have to see where we go and what we have to put in place to start up again but it's going to take a long time."

Jennifer Collins' father runs the community centre in the village so came to help and by 09:00 BST on Wednesday they had started to take in donations.

"We've got loads, we've run out of tables now.

"We have a great community with us, it's amazing what they have done."

Donations have included bags of food, clothes and "everything" else, she added.

"It's very sad, we're a good community and we'll get through it."

Seeing the fires was a "massive shock, it's just devastating".

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