Mum screamed as fire hit Capel St Mary home where parents died

A mother has told how she remembered “just screaming” as she watched her home go up in flames – six years after both of her parents died in a fire at the same house.

Rebecca Knowles’ semi-detached home on Chapel Close, in Capel St Mary, Suffolk, was destroyed on 21 August after a laptop overheated and started a fire.

The inferno resulted in the death of her “beautiful” pug Elsa, who was rescued but died days later, and left the nurse, her husband and her son homeless.

Mrs Knowles said she felt “very unlucky” after a fire at the same house killed her parents Peter and Pauline Leatherdale, both 75, in 2019.

The first fire was believed to have been caused by a candle.

“I tried to get them out of the house but they couldn’t get up and so I had to kind of just witness it,” she said.

“The guilt I’ve felt since about having to walk out without them has been horrendous and I am still trying to get over that.

“The firefighters said they couldn’t believe lightning struck twice in the same place – life is not fair and we’re very unlucky, because this should not have happened again.”

Mrs Knowles said she “couldn’t believe it” when she realised a fire was ripping through her family home for a second time.

“I remember just screaming and I just couldn’t get up off the floor – I must have stayed there for quite a while because people were getting concerned,” she said.

“You’re going along in life and then everything is taken away – I just don’t get it and I don’t know why it has happened to us.”

Due to the extent of the damage caused to her home during the most recent blaze, Mrs Knowles and her family are currently living in hotels.

A fundraiser has been set up to the support the family.

Their insurance company is helping them look for more suitable accommodation, but they fear it could be up to a year before they can return home.

“For this to happen twice… life is a mystery,” she said.

Mrs Knowles, who said she could only muster up the courage to speak about the tragedy due to her nursing career, has now issued a warning to other homeowners.

“We are not irresponsible people, so let our tragedy be a reminder to others to switch off devices at the wall and unplug them,” she said.

“I don’t want people to think it’s not going to happen to them, because we thought it wouldn’t happen to us ever again, but it has.”