This was the devastation wrought by the fire in Haxby last night (Friday).
Five fire crews, from York, Huntington and Acomb, tackled the blaze which was caused when a lightning strike hit the house in Garths End.
On Twitter, North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service said: “Extensive damage was to the whole of the property.
“Fortunately no injuries were sustained.”
Now a fundraising campaign has been launched to help the family who have “lost everything”.
Lucky escape
A GoFundMe page has been set up by Claire Brooks to help her ex-husband and his mother whose house was the one destroyed.
She revealed that her two-year-old son had a lucky escape too.
“The two-bed terraced house in Haxby was torched to the ground by a ferocious and merciless fire that took hold within minutes, causing the roof to collapse and every single room to be gutted,” she said.
“Thankfully, my ex-husband was out at the time, and his mum managed to escape.
“What was quite remarkably fortunate was the fact that our two-year-old son had come to my apartment just hours before, and therefore wasn’t left tucked up in bed.”
Claire added:
This family has lost everything. All they now have are the clothes on their backs.
An inquiry needs to be made to discover whether or not their insurance covers force majeure, and therefore they need help financially.
Not only do they need clothes, furniture, and a permanent roof over their heads, but our son’s lost all his clothes and toys of theirs too.
She said this was already “a very difficult time for two self-employed individuals trying to earn a living during Covid-19”.