A WOMAN from Llandudno has told of her relief and gratitude to be able to move back into her house after a fire had devastated the property in March.
Zara Groves was alone in her Ffordd Dewi home on Thursday, March 24 when the fire took place, with emergency services called just after 10pm.
Neighbours described seeing a fireball in the hallway of a house, while neighbouring properties were evacuated.
It caused smoke damage to the upstairs of her house, while her kitchen and furniture was destroyed, the lounge and ceiling needed replastering, and windows were left cracked and broken.
But after more than £7,000 was raised via two GoFundMe pages set up by friends, and countless people dedicated their time to rebuilding Zara’s home, she moved back in in mid-September.
And though Zara, a health, fitness and body confidence coach, found the first nights back home somewhat overwhelming, she is beginning to adjust back into surroundings which are familiar in some ways yet different in others.
She said: “It was really weird, and quite scary. The kitchen was only just painted on Thursday (October 6), so there was lots of black still in the kitchen, even though it had all been sanded down.
“Loads of little comfortable things have gone, and I haven’t got curtains on the windows at the moment, so that was daunting. It just felt that my house didn’t look like it used to.
“Now, I’ve got a lot more used to it, but at first, I was just a bit frightened being back in here.”
To try to alleviate the risk of such an incident re-occurring, Zara has had closed-circuit television (CCTV) installed at her home.
Meanwhile, her new front door has no letterbox, and also has a “Ring” smart doorbell, which has a camera inside it.
Zara’s kitchen also needed to be entirely rebuilt following the fire, in what she said is the biggest change to her house.
She said: “I’ve had to say to myself quite a few times when I’ve heard noises: ‘You’ve got CCTV, you’ve got a Ring doorbell; you’re just imagining things.
“The first weekend I moved back in, I had some friends stay with me, because it was just all too much. I’ve lived in this house for 17 years and it’s always been my safe haven, but I felt scared on my own.
“The kitchen looks completely different; absolutely nothing what it used to look like. That’s the biggest difference, because it was totally destroyed, so it was rebuilt from scratch.”
Recalling the night of the fire, Zara remembers the “insane fear” she suddenly felt, and the help she has needed to try to mentally recover from such a traumatic incident.
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She added that, given her coaching sessions have been online since the COVID-19 pandemic, her inability to be at her home for six months has cost her much of her income.
Zara said: “It was just absolute insane fear, really. To suddenly have an explosion and a fire in your house; I was hysterical. According to friends, I just went into shock then.
“People were pointing me in the right direction – ‘go and have a shower’, ‘sit down’, ‘eat food’ – I couldn’t even think for myself; I was in that much shock.
“I’ve just worked through it, with a lot of holistic healers, and with my own knowledge of mental health. I go in the sea now nearly every day to keep my mental health up; that’s massively helped.
“I’ve done things like counselling with the NHS, which has been really helpful, and Reiki, but it’s still early days.
“It’s just been a massive shake-up to my whole life. I’ve had to rebuild everything; my house, my finances, my business.
“Because I work online, I’ve lost loads of work, and thousands of pounds in my monthly income, which is now having to be rebuilt again.
“There have been lots of stuff that I’ve had to replace, and it’s not cheap, it’s quite hard to stand up and coach people, and be positive when your own life is an absolute shambles.”
Zara said she had never had any previous issues with anyone on her estate in the 17 years she has lived there, and added how supportive her neighbours have been since both the fire and her return home.
She also said how grateful she is to the people who not only donated money to either GoFundMe page, but also gave her their time, or useful items such as paint, for free.
There is much work still to do to fully repair her house, even if it is now habitable once again, but to at least be back home feels like a corner turned.
She added: “They (neighbours) have just asked me how I am every time they see me, and if there’s anything they can do to help. It’s just about getting on with it; I’m trying to move on from it now.
“There’s loads of work still to be done. The GoFundMe raised about £7,000, but with the extent of the damage, it ran out quite quickly, even with everybody giving me so much stuff.
“If people hadn’t given me things, or their time, for free, I don’t know where I would have got to. Pete Woosnam, who did all of the kitchen, gave so many of his days for free. He just kept coming to me around his work hours; he was amazing.
“The guys who did all of the painting and decorating were so good. The whole house has basically been redone, and all of the furniture went, so I was left with nothing. I still need to replace so many things.
“I feel like it’s taken absolutely forever, but people have said that actually, it’s gone quite quickly. It was uninhabitable; every room was destroyed.
“People housed and looked after me, but it’s almost like having a lot of your independence taken away from you.
“It’s only been recently that everything has been back, consistently, to how it was before. But I’m back now, and everything is building again.”
Zara also wanted to thank the following people and businesses for their help since the fire:
- Paula Stevens - "who has homed me and looked after me since it happened".
- Karl - BBP Electrical.
- Dan Williams - Clean It UK.
- Mike Mapp - JMS Windows, Doors & UPVC (new front door).
- Clint - Gold Star Double Glazing (new window).
- Karen and Neil - AA Conservatories (new French doors).
- Paul Hughes Plastering (re-plastered all walls and ceilings).
- Pete Woosnam (re-built kitchen and bathroom).
- James Payne (gave a new bathroom suite).
- Crest (took away heaps of rubbish).
- Montgomery Painters and Decorators.
- Oggy Williams (painter).
- Nick Jones (painter).
- Crown Paints.
- Leyland Paints.
- Ty Glan Cleaning Services.
- Jennifer Lee - Vanish Cleaning
- Waitrose (£50 gift voucher for food).
- Morrisons (£100 gift voucher for food).
www.instagram.com/thezaragroves
On March 28, North Wales Police confirmed a man, 40, was charged with arson with intent to endanger life following the incident.
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